Snapshots
by susanatc
Summary: A series of oneshots exploring the relationship between Booth & Brennan. These will all be set in the same timeline, although they won't necessarily be in chronological order.
1. Epiphany

"Epiphany"

It was a warm April afternoon and Booth had talked her into having lunch with him outside. He had walked into her office wearing a huge smile and carrying a takeout bag from her favorite Chinese restaurant and then suggested that they enjoy the sunshine by having lunch out in the Jeffersonian gardens. She had considered protesting just for the sake of argument, but before she could even think up a logical reason to turn him down, her stomach had growled and she knew she was lost. So here they were, sitting on a bench under a large oak tree, passing the carton of fried rice back and forth while they talked about everything except work.

"Parker had little league sign ups last weekend," Booth said as he reached into the bag for another egg roll.

"That's baseball, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's baseball."

"I like watching baseball."

"Then we should catch a game together," he suggested.

"That sounds like fun."

"How about this weekend?" he asked. "The Nationals are playing at home this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I could get us tickets and we could spend the day at the ballpark."

"Do you have Parker this weekend?"

"No, Rebecca is taking him to see her parents this weekend since he'll have baseball games most weekends through the summer."

"So just the two of us?" she asked as she turned to face him.

"Just you and me," he confirmed as he nodded his head and smiled at her. "What do you say, Bones? Is it a date?"

She watched as the realization of what he'd just said dawned on his features. Before he had a chance to apologize, she spoke up. "It's a date, Booth."

His mouth opened, but no words came out. She smiled at him and then reached over to close his mouth for him. As a warm smile broke out across his face, she realized that even though this was the first time either one of them had referred to their get-togethers as a "date", they had pretty much been dating since Christmas. The kiss they had shared under the mistletoe had sparked something between them and even though neither one of them had admitted it, they were pretty much a couple.

"Are you sure about this, Bones?" he asked as he offered her another egg roll.

"Are you?" she replied. "After all, you're the one with rules and lines and all that."

He looked at her for a long moment and then smiled again. "Are you going to let me kiss you again?"

"Maybe," she replied with a teasing grin.

"Then I'm sure," he replied.

"Maybe we should practice on the kissing part," she suggested. "That way we make sure we have it right for our first official date."

He started to lean towards her, then pulled up short and glanced around. "Here?"

She looked around at the crowded garden and then let out a small sigh. "Probably not a good idea. Maybe you should take me out to dinner later and we can practice then."

"I like the sound of that," he replied as he leaned over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

They smiled at each for a long moment before Brennan finally leaned back and reached for another carton of food. "So what position does Parker play?"

_So what do you guys think?_


	2. Telling Angela

_This one is set directly after "Epiphany." I thought it would be fun to see a little girl talk. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I love to read what others think of my stories._

"Telling Angela"

"Good morning, Bren," Angela called as she entered the lab.

Brennan straightened from the remains she was working on to smile at her best friend. "Good morning, Angela." She pulled off her gloves before making her way down from the platform. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Angela replied. "Just let me go drop my purse and jacket in my office and I'll be right back."

"I'll walk with you," Brennan said as she tucked her hands into her pockets and fell into step with her.

Angela called a good morning to Zach as they passed his office and then turned her full attention back to Brennan. "Okay, what's going on? You look like you're about to burst."

Brennan couldn't help the smile on her face. It had been there since her lunch with Booth the day before and had only gotten more pronounced after they'd left the diner last night and he had walked her to her car. They had stood there for several minutes talking about their plans for Friday night and maybe even Saturday before he'd finally reached out and taken both of her hands in his. When she'd looked up to meet his gaze, he had smiled at her and then slowly lowered his head towards her. He'd stopped just before his lips touched hers and his whispered "Are you sure about this?" had sent goose bumps dancing across her flesh.

In response, she had closed the remaining distance between their lips, her eyes closing in sheer pleasure at the contact. He took his time kissing her, his lips sliding against hers repeatedly as they learned the taste of each other. When they had finally pulled apart, she'd smiled at him. "I'm sure, Booth." His smile at that moment had made it feel like every argument they'd had to get them to this point was worth it and she leaned up and brushed another soft kiss against his lips before getting into her car and driving home.

Angela's voice drew her back to the present and she quickly looked around to make sure nobody else was within earshot before she whispered, "Booth kissed me last night."

Angela squealed in excitement and Brennan grabbed her arm and practically dragged her into her office. "Angela, hush. I don't want the whole lab to know."

"Sweetie, this is great," Angela said as she dropped her things on her desk and then turned to pull Brennan into a hug. "Tell me everything."

Brennan bit back a grin as she quickly recounted the story of how he'd asked her out over lunch and then kissed her before they'd parted ways the night before. It was all Angela could do to keep from jumping up and down for sheer joy for her friend.

"Bren, this is so amazing."

"I kind of think so, too."

"So is that all that happened? Or did Mr. Hot FBI guy follow you home?" Angela teased.

"Let's not get carried away," Brennan warned. "We're taking things slow."

"Three years isn't slow enough for you?" Angela asked.

"Do you remember the first time Hodgins asked you out?" Brennan replied. At Angela's nod, she continued, "You were hesitant to change your relationship status, if memory serves me right."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because it wasn't obvious to everyone who came into contact with us that we were made for each other like you and Booth."

"You know I don't believe in all of that soul mate stuff, Angela. Besides, we need to make sure we can balance a personal relationship as well as our professional one."

"You two already do an amazing job of balancing your personal and professional lives," Angela pointed out.

"But we haven't been dating before now," Brennan argued.

"Only in the sense that you weren't getting the fringe benefits of dating someone as hot as Booth."

Brennan laughed at that, her own realization of the day before coming to mind. "Regardless, we're going to take it slow. If we can't make it work, it would be better for our professional lives if we don't cross that line."

Angela moved over to her desk and leaned against it. "All joking aside, I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Angela."

"And I expect details," she added.

"You'll get them," Brennan assured her. "But would you mind keeping this to yourself for now?"

"Sure thing, sweetie. I won't even tell Jack until you say it's okay."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Brennan pointed over her shoulder. "I should get back to work. I've got a lot to get done before Booth picks me up for lunch."

"Okay. Have a good morning."

"You, too. I'll talk to you later."

Angela waited until Brennan had left her office before she threw a fist in the air and gave a silent yelp of excitement. They might be "taking it slow" but there wasn't a doubt in her mind that they were made for each other. Suddenly, the workday seemed a lot more exciting than it had when she'd pulled into the parking lot.

_Up next will be their first official date. Please feel free to drop a line and let me know what you think._


	3. First Date

_A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to do a review. I love to read what others think of the story._

_My apologies for the delay in getting this chapter posted, but life got in the way. But enough about that and on with the story._

* * *

"First Date"

Booth rolled over in bed and reached for the snooze button on his alarm. He hit it twice before he realized that it wasn't his alarm, but his cell phone. Pushing himself up to an elbow, he snatched the phone and flipped it open without bothering to check the caller i.d. "Booth."

"Good morning."

Hearing Brennan's voice brought him instantly awake and he sat up in the bed. "Bones? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Booth. Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," he said as he settled back against the pillows. "I got called out as backup on a case last night and didn't get home until after two this morning. What time is it anyway?"

"It's almost seven-thirty. I figured you'd be almost ready to leave by now so it wouldn't be too early to call."

"It's okay, Bones. The alarm is actually set to go off in about ten minutes anyway," he assured her. "Besides, I actually kind of like your voice being the first thing I hear in the morning. Are you at work already?"

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied.

"Yeah. I got here around six. There are a few things I want to make sure that I get done today since I won't be coming in this weekend."

"It's good to take a weekend off every once in a while, Bones," he assured her.

"Make sure all the bad guys know that, will you? I have a date tonight and I really don't want to have to cancel on this guy."

"I'll see what I can do about that."

"At least the weather is cooperating."

"Good," he replied. "Because I have a date tonight myself that I really don't want to have cancel. Tickets to the Nats game."

"Sounds like fun."

"It will be." After a brief pause, he added, ""So I'll pick you up at 6?"

"I'll see you then."

"Bye, Bones."

"Bye, Booth."

Booth disconnected the call and moved to place the phone on the nightstand beside his bed. When his alarm clock sounded, he reached over to turn it off and got to his feet with a smile on his face. He could definitely get used to waking up to the sound of Bones' voice. Of course, it would be better if she'd been sharing the same bed with him, but he wasn't in a rush. He was more than willing to take things slow because there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she was worth the wait. Now if he could just make the next ten hours fly by so he could be getting ready to go pick her up for their first official date.

Booth knocked on the door to Brennan's apartment and then shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He couldn't decide if it was nerves or excitement that had him on edge, but either way, he was definitely looking forward to the evening. It had been an absolutely beautiful day weather-wise, and he was excited about taking Bones to the game.

Brennan opened the door with a smile on her face. "Hi."

"Hi, yourself," he replied as he eyed the Nationals jersey she wore over a red long-sleeved shirt and the blue jeans that hugged her curves deliciously. "Are you ready to go?"

"Let me grab my jacket," she replied.

He waited by the door while she collected her jacket and then he allowed her to proceed him out into the hallway. Once she had secured the locks, he reached for her hand. "So how was your day?"

"Busy, but peaceful," she replied as she bumped her shoulder against his. "How was yours?"

"Filled with paperwork," he replied. "I like the outfit."

"Thanks," she said as she gave his hand a squeeze. "Where's your Nats gear?"

"I brought my sweatshirt along," he assured her. "I just didn't want to put it on until necessary."

"Are we driving or taking the Metro?" she asked as they reached the parking lot.

"Driving, unless you just want to take the Metro," he said. "I got a parking pass when I got the tickets. I'm not a big fan of depending on public transportation."

"Me either."

He unlocked the SUV and opened her door for her. After she climbed in, he closed the door and made his way around to the driver's side. Once he was settled in his seat, he turned to look at her with a smile on his face. "I'm glad you agreed to this."

"I'm glad you asked," she replied.

They reached the stadium without incident and once they were parked and out of the car, Booth reached for her hand again, grateful beyond words that she was allowing the simple contact. "So what do you think of the new stadium?"

"It's a lot bigger than I expected," she replied as she looked up at the stadium.

"I can't believe you've never been to a Nationals game," he teased as they joined the crowd heading for the gate.

"And I can't believe it took you this long to ask me to one," she teased back.

They shared a laugh as Booth presented their tickets and they moved through the turnstiles. Once they were inside the ballpark, he directed her to a food stand. "Ballpark hot dogs are a must, Bones," he stated in response to her questioning glance.

She merely shrugged and allowed him to order for both of them. When he handed her two beers to carry, she couldn't help but tease him some more. "If your plan is to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me, I should probably warn you that my partner carries a gun and is a pretty good shot."

Instead of the glib response she expected, he leaned close to her and whispered, "When we cross that line, Bones, it will be all about mutual satisfaction, and definitely not about me taking advantage of you."

She felt herself blush but she refused to look away. This entire week had been unexpected, and while part of her was still scared about this change in their relationship, the other part - the one that had on more than one occasion fantasized about what it would be like to be able to have this intimacy with her partner - was thrilled at exploring this new aspect of their relationship. She leaned back to meet his gaze and gave him a bright smile. "I'm looking forward to that."

Booth returned her smile before turning his attention back to the woman behind the counter. He pulled out money to pay for their snacks and then gathered up their food. They leisurely made their way to their seats, taking the time to enjoy the sights at the ballpark. Once they were settled and enjoying their food, Booth commented on the upcoming game. "We could be in trouble tonight."

"Why is that?"

"Since the Braves game at Colorado got snowed out last night, we're facing Hudson tonight instead of Smoltz," he explained.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

"Only if you're a Nationals fan," he replied. "Hudson always seems to have our number when we go against him."

"Isn't Chico one of the best pitchers on the Nationals team though?" she asked.

"Yeah, he is," he conceded. "It should be a good game."

Two-and-a-half hours later, they were making their way out of the stadium with the rest of the disappointed Nationals faithful after a 3-0 loss. "Regardless of the outcome, it was still a well played game," Brennan stated as she reached for Booth's hand.

He couldn't help but smile at her initiative and he gave her fingers a squeeze as he maneuvered them through the crowd. "It was definitely a better pitching match up than I thought it was going to be," he admitted. "Chico probably threw his best game ever tonight, other than that one home run in the sixth."

When they finally made it out of the throng of people, they slowed their pace a bit. "How about a walk on the waterfront?" she suggested.

He nodded his agreement and they soon found themselves settled into a comfortable pace with their hands still intertwined as they strolled along the shore of the Anacostia River. Booth looked out over the water and saw a flash of lightning. "We should probably make this a short walk," he said. "It looks like the storms are finally rolling in."

"We can go back now if you want," she said as she came to a halt.

He released her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, gently nudging her back into movement as he replied, "And miss this opportunity? Never."

Brennan smiled and wrapped one arm around his waist before reaching up to lace her fingers through his where they rested on her shoulder. "This has been fun, Booth."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he replied. "But just wait until we hit the cherry blossom festival tomorrow."

"You do realize that this is the last weekend for the festival and that we've already missed the peak of the season?"

"Of course, I do. But I can assure you that tomorrow is the perfect day for us to go."

"And if it rains all day?" she asked.

"Then I'll have a good excuse to pull you close to my side," he replied. "So we can share an umbrella."

"Smooth, Booth. Real smooth."

They walked in silence for several moments, each one lost in thoughts of how nice this thing was between them. Booth pulled them to a stop and they stood looking out over the river, watching the lightning reflect off the water.

"It's beautiful," she said softly.

"I was just thinking the same thing," he agreed.

She turned to look at him and realized that his attention wasn't on the water, but on her. She started to say something, but he lifted a finger to her lips to silence her. Turning so he was facing her fully, he took both of her hands in his. "I don't think I've ever told you this, Temperance, but I think you are breathtakingly beautiful."

The intensity in his eyes scared her, but it also excited her. "Thank you."

He let go of one of her hands and lifted his hand to her face, gently pushing her hair back. He let his fingers linger in the silky strands of her hair for a moment before moving his hand to the back of her head. Realizing his intentions, she tilted her face towards his, anticipation fluttering in her stomach as his lips lowered to hers.

Her eyes closed on a sigh as his lips made contact with hers and she released his hand to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him close. As their lips slanted over each other, he moved his other hand to the small of her back, bringing her body even closer to his. His tongue slid against the seam of her lips and she parted them to allow him access, meeting his tongue with her own, loving the taste of him.

All too soon, he pulled back slightly, his arms enveloping her in a hug. "That was nice, Bones."

She rested her head against his chest, hearing the thundering of his heart inside of his chest and she realized that he was as affected by this thing between them as she was. Suddenly unsure of her footing, she decided to try a little levity to lighten the moment. "You know Booth, if that's your middle of the date kiss, I can't wait to see the walk me to the door kiss."

As if sensing her need for some space, he stepped away from her with a laugh. "Just wait until you see the middle of the second date kiss, Bones," he teased her as he once again took her hand in his and they made their way back to the SUV.

* * *

_P__lease feel free to drop me a note and let me know what you think. I should have the next chapter up in the next couple of days._


	4. The Fight

_This one takes place a couple of months into their relationship. And from here on out, they will probably jump around in time. I hope you enjoy it. _

_For those of you who have asked so nicely for the wild, crazy sex, consider this a preview. I promise you'll eventually get the real thing._

* * *

"The Fight"

Angela walked across the lab, anxious to show Brennan the sketch she had finished of the victim in their latest case. When she reached the door to Brennan's office, she pulled up short. She could hear voices coming from inside the office, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. From the tone though, it was clear that there was a very heated argument going on. She listened long enough to decipher the voices as Booth's and Brennan's before she turned around and headed back to her own office. There was no way she was stepping into the middle of one of their arguments. The sketch was just going to have to wait.

"You're being ridiculous, Booth," Brennan said as she got up from her desk to pace.

"I'm being ridiculous? You're the one making a big deal out of this, Bones," he replied as he followed her over to her bookshelf.

"No, I'm not," she replied as she turned to face him. "You're the one who refuses to let it drop."

"All I'm asking is that you try to see it from my point of view," he replied.

"And all I'm asking is that you trust me," she shot back.

"I do trust you," he said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. He really hated fighting with her. There was no point to it. Nobody ever really won the arguments and they just ended up pissed off at each other.

"No, you don't," she replied. "You expect me to follow you without hesitation based solely on my trust in you, but you refuse to do the same for me."

"That is not true," he stated. "I trust you with my life, Bones."

"Maybe when it's convenient for you to say so," she spat at him as she turned to walk away from him.

His hand around her arm stopped her in her tracks and she stood there seething. Part of her wanted to shrug out his grasp, regardless of if it meant inflicting bodily harm. Another part of her still had no idea why they were arguing about something so stupid or why they continued to push each other's buttons this way.

She could feel his breath on the back of her neck as he moved until he was standing directly behind her. "I have never trusted anyone as much as I trust you, Bones."

She closed her eyes as his whispered words raised goose bumps on her skin. This particular difference of opinion had been going on for three days now and if she was honest with herself, she really missed him.

Swallowing her own anger, she replied just as softly. "And I've never trusted anyone as much as I trust you, Booth."

"Then why are we still fighting about this?" he whispered as his hands moved slowly down her arms until they reached her hands. He laced their fingers together and then lifted them until they were resting on her stomach.

She leaned back into him, her body craving his touch. "I'm not even sure what we're fighting about anymore."

"I'm not sure that I know either," he replied as he tightened his grip around her, pulling her snug against his body.

She shifted her body away from his and he immediately let her go, knowing that trying to hold her when she didn't want to be held could lead to bodily harm. Instead of stepping away from him, she turned to face him and her hands once again found his. "You know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, right?"

"Yes," he admitted. "And you know the same, right?"

She nodded and then lifted her eyes to his. Their apologies came at the same time, the words mingling together, brushing across their lips.

They both laughed softly and then Booth leaned down to her. "I really am sorry, Bones."

"Me, too."

His lips pressed against hers softly, his tongue slowly tracing her bottom lip, seeking entrance. She opened to him willingly and in the instant their tongues touched, they were lost. The kiss went from gentle to scorching in a split second, hands suddenly desperate to feel the other's body, the frustration of the last three days dissolving into passion as they gave of themselves, holding nothing back.

Booth turned her towards her desk, his hands moving to cup her ass and lifting her onto it. He stepped between her legs, his body seeking her heat as his hands moved up her body, sliding under the thin material of her blouse to find her soft skin.

Her hands weren't idle, moving to his waist and pulling his shirt out of his waistband. Her hands slid up the front of his chest, feeling his abdominal muscles contract at the contact. She slid them around his body and down his back, stopping only when she came into contact with his pants. Sliding her hands back around his body, she fumbled with his belt buckle.

His hands cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently and eliciting a soft moan from her throat. He pinched her nipples and she arched into him, her body begging for more. She broke their kiss in an effort to concentrate on getting his belt undone, but he merely used the opportunity to slide his lips down her jaw to her neck. She tilted her head to allow him better access even as she protested his lack of help. "Please, Booth. I need you."

Glancing up from where he was nuzzling her neck, reality crashed down on him when he realized that they were still in her office. As much as he needed to be inside of her, if they didn't stop, they were going to give the entire lab quite a show.

He gentled his kisses and slowly caressed her stomach as he removed his hands from inside her shirt. Kissing his way up to her ear, he whispered, "We can't do this here, Bones."

Still hazy with desire, it took her a moment to realize that his hands were now very chastely at her waist and that he was no longer trying to devour her with his kisses. She leaned back slightly to look at him, thinking that she might have misunderstood and that they were still fighting, but the smile he gave her eased her doubts. "You are so gorgeous when you're like this," he stated as he took a minuscule step away from her.

She glanced over her shoulder out into the lab, taking note that all of her colleagues were still studiously going about their business. "Tell me again why we have to stop," she said as she lowered her hand to cup him through his pants.

His hips bucked into hers before he reached down and took her hands in his. "How many people can you see?"

She did a quick calculation before turning back to face him. "Six."

"How many of them do you think can see us?" he asked.

She grinned at that. "I see your point." Wanting to tease him just a little, she leaned forward and added, "Surely you aren't ashamed of your...assets, Agent Booth."

He watched as her gaze traveled down his body, coming to rest on the obvious evidence of their activities and he felt himself grow even harder. His voice was slightly huskier when he replied, "You're killing me here, Bones. Besides, it's not me I'm concerned about. I'm afraid that if the squint squad gets a good look at what you hide under that lab coat, they won't get any work done anymore."

She lifted her gaze back to his and he could see hers shining brightly with mischief. Without another word, she shifted her weight off of the desk and got to her feet. He took a step back and she grinned as she turned around and picked up the phone. Dialing Angela's extension, she stepped back until she could feel him pressed against her ass. When Angela picked up, Brennan was amazed at how steady her voice came out, in spite of the fact that Booth was pressing his erection firmly against her, his hands on her waist holding her against him. "Angela, do you have the sketch finished?" At Angela's affirmative response, she continued, "Would you mind bringing it to my office?"

Finishing her conversation, she returned the phone to its cradle and then turned to look at Booth. "You might want to tuck your shirt back in," she suggested. Letting her gaze slide down his body once again, she added, "And you might want to do something about that."

"I know exactly what I'd like to do with that," he said as his gazed traveled down her body. Forcing his gaze away from her body, he quickly moved to put his clothes back in order as he stepped around her desk and settled in a chair. He forced his mind back to their case in an effort to get his body back under control. He reached for the case file from her desk, figuring he could hold it on his lap while Angela was in the office. Just when he thought he had everything under control, he made the mistake of looking back over at her.

"Just so you know, Booth," she said as she met his gaze. "I'm wetter right now than you are hard. And believe me, I know exactly what I'd like to do with that, too."

He seriously doubted that her statement was true, considering the reaction her statement had caused, but there was no time to argue the point as Angela was knocking on the door and making her way into the office.

"Are you two done fighting?" Angela asked. At the look they exchanged, she stopped and smiled at them. "I'll take that as a yes."

"What?" Brennan asked.

"You've clearly moved from the fighting stage to the ready for make-up sex stage," she stated as she sat the sketch on Brennan's desk. "Here's the sketch. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll get out of here and leave you two alone."

Once she left the office, they sat and looked at each other for a long minute before Brennan got to her feet. "Come on, Booth."

"Where are we going?" he asked as he got to his feet.

"Lunch," she replied. "I'm suddenly starved."

"Your place or mine?" he asked.

"Yours is closest," she pointed out.

Just before they reached the door to her office, Booth pulled her to a stop. "For the record, Bones. I will get even for that last little comment."

"I'm sure you will," she replied. With a wink, she added, "And I'll be looking forward to it."

_

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_

_The rest is a story for a different day. :-)_

_Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think._


	5. In The Still Of The Night

_Thank you again to all of you who have taken the time to send a review. They are greatly appreciated._

* * *

"In The Still Of The Night"

It was still dark when Booth opened his eyes and he wondered what had woken him so early. He laid in the stillness of the room, his heart beating wildly in his chest and his ears on alert for whatever had disturbed his sleep. It took only a few seconds before he heard the sound again and as he rolled to his side, he had to fight back a chuckle. Bones was snoring.

His beautiful, sexy, brilliant, partner slash new lover was lying on her side facing him, one arm tucked under her pillow and the other resting on her side and she was emitting the strange noise that had awoken him.

He watched her for several minutes, entranced by the rise and fall of her chest as she slept peacefully, her light snoring obviously not bothering her. Unable to resist the lure of her, he reached out a hand and gently brushed her hair off of her face, allowing his fingers to trace along the smooth skin of her cheek before moving down to glide across her shoulder. She was breathtakingly beautiful and he whispered a prayer of thanks that they had finally managed to move beyond friendship to something much deeper.

She stirred slightly in her sleep and he stilled his hand, not wanting to wake her, but unable to stop touching her. It had been a long week, back-to-back cases of murdered children taking their toll on them both physically and emotionally. Seeing Bones finally relaxed brought a soft smile to his lips.

He slowly trailed his fingers down her arm until he reached her fingers. When her hand squeezed around his, he lifted his eyes back to her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

He smiled at her concern and couldn't help but tease her a little. "You were snoring, Bones."

She turned her face into her pillow in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Sorry about that, Booth."

"It's okay," he replied as he moved his finger to her chin to turn her face back to his. "In fact, it's kind of cute."

Her eyebrow shot up at that. "Cute?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Cute."

"How so?"

"Because here you are, this beautiful, sexy, amazing woman who just totally blows me away and then when I finally convince you to stay the night, I find out that you snore. It's just cute, Bones."

She laughed softly at his logic, but didn't try to make sense of it. Instead, she laced her fingers through his and brought his hand to her lips for a soft kiss. "I hate to disappoint you, Booth, but I only snore when I'm really exhausted."

"Is that a challenge?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but leaned in for a soft kiss anyway. "It wasn't intended as a challenge, Booth. Just a warning. Most of the time, work doesn't wear me down this much. This week has been an exception, though. So since this is the first time all week that I've really allowed myself to let my guard down and truly relax, I'm sure that I was snoring quite loudly."

"I'm glad that you chose to do that with me," he replied as his eyes locked with hers. "It's nice to be able to hold you in my arms and know that you're comfortable enough to truly let yourself go."

"And I'm glad that you allow me to do that," she agreed. "It's nice to know I can really be myself with you and not regret it later."

"Never," he assured her before leaning in for another kiss.

She sighed against his lips and tucked their hands under her chin. "If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have fought it for so long," she admitted.

"I always knew it would be like this," he replied. "I think that's why I did fight it for so long." At her look of confusion, he continued. "I knew that once I had you in my arms, I'd never want to let you go again. I also knew that you weren't ready for that kind of commitment yet, so I had to be very careful not to scare you off."

She thought about that for a moment and then nodded her agreement. "Thanks for being patient with me, Booth."

"You were worth the wait, Bones."

"So were you, Booth."

He leaned in and gave her another gentle kiss before settling back onto his own pillow. "Go back to sleep, Bones."

"You, too," she replied. "I expect you to wake me up again in a couple of hours without a word being spoken."

He grinned at her in acknowledgment and then they both closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chicken Soup

_This chapter is set a couple of months into their new relationship. This is for SD, who asked for a nice story about one of them being sick and the other having to take of them._

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"Chicken Soup"

Brennan reached for a tissue and blew her nose yet again. What had started that morning as a slight sniffle and a minor headache had developed into a full-blown cold by lunchtime. She was doing her best to tough it out and make it through the workday, but she felt horrible and wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep for a week. A quick glance at her computer monitor confirmed that it was only a little after two o'clock. Three more hours felt like an eternity, and that was if she left at five, instead of the usual six-thirty or seven.

A soft knock at her door drew her attention and she glanced up to see Angela walking towards her. "Are you feeling any better, sweetie?"

"I think I actually feel worse," she said, hating the whine in her own voice and feeling powerless to control it.

"Why don't you just call it a day and go home? You know Zack can handle the prelims on his own."

"It's just a little while longer," she argued. "I'll be fine. Besides, then I'll have the whole weekend ahead of me."

Angela leaned against the corner of her desk and reached out a hand to feel her brow. "Bren, honey, you're burning up. Please, just this one, listen to me and go home."

"I hate skipping out early on work, especially on a Friday."

"Like you're someone who practices that," Angela replied flippantly. "And before you try to argue that point, making sure that you're finished by six so you can make a date with Booth does not constitute leaving early. Now seriously, go home. The last thing you need to do is stay here and possibly infect everyone in the lab."

Lacking the energy to continue arguing, Brennan acquiesced with a nod. Angela gave her shoulder a squeeze as she said, "I'll tell Cam for you. You just go."

Once Angela left the room, Brennan picked up her cell phone and dialed Booth. She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered and wished she could return his enthusiasm. "Hey there, beautiful."

"Hi," she repeated softly.

The change in his tone was immediate. "What's wrong, Bones?"

"I feel horrible, Booth," she confessed. "I don't think I've ever felt this sick in my entire life."

"What can I do to help?" he asked, the tenderness in his voice bringing a smile to her face in spite of her illness.

Brennan looked out at the lab for a brief moment before she finally said, "I really don't think I can drive myself home. Would you mind coming by to pick me up on your way home? I can just sleep on my couch until you get here."

She could hear him shuffling papers even before he had the chance to reply. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"You don't have to leave early, Booth," she protested. "I'm sure I can sleep just as well on my couch here until quitting time."

"It just became quitting time, Bones," he replied. "I'll be there shortly. Go ahead and put that couch to good use though."

"Thank you, Booth."

"I'll see you in a few, Bones."

Brennan ended the call and returned her phone to her desk. As she got to her feet, the room tilted and threatened to knock her to the floor. Luckily, she managed to grab the desk to steady herself. Once the dizziness passed, she carefully negotiated the room and made it to the couch without further incident. Grabbing the blanket off the back of it, she managed to drape it over herself before reclining back to wait for Booth.

Booth forced himself to walk as he entered the Jeffersonian, instead of breaking out into a sprint like he wanted to. After Bones had called him to drive her home, he'd told Cullen he needed to take the afternoon off and quickly closed up his office. As he'd made his way out of the Hoover building, he'd called Angela to have her check in on Bones and to let her know that he was on his way to pick her up. When she'd reported that Brennan was fast asleep on her couch, his concern for her well being had nearly doubled. Bones was never sick, much less sick enough to ask him to come and pick her up as well as to show this kind of vulnerability in front of her co-workers.

Angela met him just inside the lab doors and they walked together to Brennan's office. "She's still asleep, Booth."

"How long was she feeling bad before she called me?" he asked as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"She told me when she got here this morning that she felt a little off, but she said it was probably due more to not sleeping well last night than anything else. She was in the lab all morning and I was busy doing a reconstruction so I didn't really see her again until after lunch. By then, she was running a fever and looking pretty bad. I convinced her to work at her desk for a while, but it still took a couple of hours for her to agree to go home. I have to admit that I'm surprised she called you to come get her."

Booth flashed her a smile before he replied, "You know Bones, Ang, she's just full of surprises sometimes."

"Maybe since you two have started dating," she replied in a whisper as they stepped into Brennan's office. When Angela reached for the light, Booth stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm, silently requesting that she leave the overhead light off.

They made their way over to the couch and Booth knelt down beside Brennan and reached a hand out to feel her brow. She stirred at the touch and slowly opened her eyes. "Booth."

"I'm here, Bones."

"I knew you'd come."

"Always," he replied as he brushed the hair back off of her face. "Can you sit up for me?"

"I'm a little dizzy," she admitted. "Will you help me?"

Booth moved to help her into a sitting position and kept his hands on her upper arms until she smiled at him. "I'm good."

"Did you eat anything today?" he asked as he once again knelt in front of her.

"I wasn't hungry at lunch," she replied. "And you weren't there to fix me breakfast this morning, so I skipped it."

Booth cringed inwardly as he heard Angela's gasp of surprise from behind him. Apparently, his girlfriend hadn't seen fit to inform her best friend that they had moved beyond the "dating and seeing how it goes" phase into the "sleeping together every opportunity they could get" phase of their relationship. Not that they were trying to keep their relationship a secret or anything, they just weren't broadcasting it across the entire capital.

Brennan must've realized her slip because her gaze shot up to Angela's before dropping back to Booth's. "Will you take me home now?"

He stood up and offered her a hand, gently pulling her to her feet. Her free hand grabbed hold of his forearm to steady herself as the room once again tilted dangerously. Booth moved his hands to her waist to help her get her balance, then turned to face Angela. "Will you get her purse and stuff?"

Angela stepped away to gather her things for them, and Booth took the opportunity to brush a kiss across Brennan's forehead. "You should've called sooner."

"I hate being sick," she replied as she rested her head against his chest. "It makes me feel weak and I hate feeling weak."

"I know," he replied as he gave her a brief hug. "Come on, let's go."

Keeping his arm securely around her shoulders, Booth turned them to head out of the office. Brennan wrapped one arm around his waist to keep herself steady and reached for her stuff with the other one.

"Go on," Angela replied. "I'll carry this stuff out to the car."

The trio slowly made their way out of the lab, ignoring the looks of their co-workers and only stopping when Brennan insisted that she needed to in order to keep the dizziness at bay.

Once they made it through the glass doors of the lab, Booth brought them to a halt. "You know, Bones, this will be a whole lot quicker and easier if you'll let me carry you the rest of the way."

He expected a venomous reply for even suggesting it, but what he got instead was a soft, "Okay."

"Are you sure?" he replied, his surprised look meeting Angela's over the top of Brennan's head.

"Please Booth," she whispered. "I just want to go home."

He needed no further encouragement. Without so much as a glance in the direction of the security guards that had stopped to watch their progression, he scooped Brennan into his arms and they continued down the long hall towards the exit. When they reached the parking lot, Booth stood aside to let Angela open the door for them.

"This is kind of nice," Brennan mumbled against his shoulder. "You being all alpha-male and everything."

Booth couldn't help but laugh as he settled her into the seat and fastened her seat belt. He reclined the seat to make her more comfortable and then stepped back and closed the door. When he opened the back door, Angela deposited Brennan's stuff in the seat and then turned to look at Booth. "Seeley Booth, have you been holding out on me?"

Booth pulled her out of the way to close the door and then turned to meet her gaze. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Angela."

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," she replied.

"I think this is a conversation you should have with Bones," he replied as he made his way to the front of the vehicle. "Preferably when she feels better."

"I will," she replied. "But if you don't want me to speculate out loud on what would cause my best friend to not only call her partner to come and drive her home, but to also allow said partner to carry her out to the car, I suggest you answer the question."

Booth took a glance into the car to see that Bones was already fast asleep and then made his way back around to Angela. "Okay, fine. You win. Yes, we've been holding out on you."

"How long?"

"Not long," he replied. "A couple of weeks now."

"Long enough for you to realize that you're completely in love with her?" Angela teased.

"I think I've known that for quite a while, Ang."

"So not quite long enough that she's made the same realization, huh?"

"Like I said, you should talk to her."

Angela reached out and pulled him into a hug. "I'm beyond thrilled for you guys; you know that, right?"

"Yes, and we appreciate it. Now, I really should get her home and in the bed."

She released him and stepped back with a nod. "Call me if you need anything. Take good care of her and tell her that she owes me details when she feels better."

"I will."

It took nearly twenty minutes to make it to Brennan's apartment, with only one stop at the pharmacy to pick up some over the counter medicine that would hopefully help fight her symptoms. After pulling into a parking spot, Booth got her things from the backseat before going around to open her door. He set her things in her lap and then lifted her from the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. "I wish I felt better so I could take advantage of this."

"If you felt better, you wouldn't let me get away with this," he reminded her.

"Maybe," she agreed.

When they reached her door, Booth lowered her to her feet so he could unlock it. Once that was accomplished, he lifted her back into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He gently laid her down on the bed and then stepped back to pull off her shoes. As he tossed them aside, he noticed her looking at him. "What?"

"Would you help me change clothes? There should be a pair of sleep shorts and t-shirt in the bathroom."

He retrieved the clothes and then helped her to sit up on the bed. He made quick work of the buttons of her blouse and pushed it off her shoulders. "Do you want your bra off or left on?"

"Off please," she replied.

He found the clasp in the back and opened it, then gently pulled the straps off her shoulders and down her arms. His eyes were immediately drawn to her nipples and he noticed how they hardened in the cool air of her bedroom. He forced his thoughts away from how amazingly beautiful she was and picked up the t-shirt. As he pulled the material down over her body, he took a deep breath to control his body's reaction to her.

Seemingly oblivious to his struggle, Brennan shifted so she was lying on the bed and he could help her remove her pants. It only took a moment for him to unsnap and unzip them and then he was slowly lowering them off of her, refusing to allow himself to remember the last time he had had the pleasure of undressing her. As he turned to lay them across the chair, her voice nearly brought him to his knees. "My panties, too, Booth. Please."

Drawing a deep breath to steady himself, he turned back to her and slowly lowered the silky scrap of material down her body. Try as he might, he couldn't keep his eyes from traveling over her, his body instantly reacting to seeing her before him. He reached for her sleep shorts and gently pulled them on her, and then lifted the covers so she could crawl underneath them. Once she was situated, he carried her clothes to the laundry basket and picked up the bag with the medicine in it.

"Tell me your symptoms, Bones."

"Headache, fever, dizzy, stuffy head, achy all over, and a slightly sore throat," she replied.

He read three different boxes before opening one and getting out the suggested dose. He then opened one of the bottles of Gatorade he'd picked up for her and handed both to her. "Take these and drink at least half of this and then you can go to sleep."

She did as he instructed and then handed the drink back to him before collapsing back on the pillow. He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her forehead. "Get some sleep, Bones. I'll be here when you wake up."

He started to turn away from her, but her hand on his wrist stopped him. He turned his attention back to her and she offered him a weak smile. "Thank you, Booth."

He flashed her a wide smile in reply. "You're welcome, Bones. Go to sleep."

Three hours later, Booth was reclining on the couch reading a book when he heard Brennan stir. He quickly sat the book aside and headed to the bedroom. He found her sitting on the side of the bed with her head in her hands. She looked up when she heard him.

"Where are you heading?"

"The bathroom."

"Do you need some help?"

"I'm not dizzy anymore, so I think I can make it," she replied as she got to her feet. "You can grab me a dry t-shirt if you'd like though. This one is pretty much soaked through."

He headed for her dresser as she made her way to the bathroom. Rummaging through her drawers, he found a shirt and then headed to the bathroom. He knocked on the door before opening it far enough to reach in with the clean shirt. Once she had taken it from him, he turned his attention back to the bed, noticing that most of the covers had been kicked to the floor while she slept. The sheets were wet from her sweat so he quickly stripped the bed, piling the dirty linens outside the bedroom door to throw in the washer later. He retrieved a clean set of sheets from her linen closet and returned to her bedroom, thankful that he had paid attention the last time they had spent the night at her place and now knew where she kept things.

Booth was straightening the comforter when the bathroom door opened. Brennan stepped into the bedroom and stopped, a smile tugging at her lips. "You didn't have to do that," she said, indicating the freshly made bed.

He brushed off the comment with a shrug. "Feeling better?"

"I think so," she replied as she walked back to the bed.

"Good. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," she admitted.

"Then why don't you get back in bed and I'll bring you something to eat."

"I'm not sure I have any food in my kitchen," she said as she sat on the side of the bed.

"Already taken care of," he told her. At her inquisitive look, he explained, "I called Angela and had her pick up a few groceries on her way home from work."

"I suppose I'm going to have some explaining to do on Monday, aren't I?"

He smiled as he sat down next to her on the bed. "I didn't realize that you hadn't told her we were having sex," he replied. "She said she wants details. I'm not sure I like the sound of that, though."

Brennan reached for his hand and laced their fingers together, leaning her head on his shoulder. "It just means that she wants me to confirm that you're the best lover I've ever had and that being with you is everything I'd hoped for and more."

He felt a jolt of pride at the compliment and lifted their joined hands to his lips to place a kiss on her hand. "I guess I can deal with that."

She pulled their hands to her mouth and returned the kiss to his hand. "So what are you going to feed me?"

"How about some soup and a sandwich?" he asked as he reached his free hand up to brush the hair out of her face.

"Sounds delicious," she replied.

He leaned over and placed a tender kiss to her forehead before getting to his feet. "Okay, back into the bed with you and I'll bring you some food."

When he returned with the tray of food, she managed to eat almost half of it before feeling drained to the point of not wanting to move. He gave her another dose of medicine and then tucked her under the covers again. After another quick kiss to her forehead, he carried the tray back to the kitchen and left her to sleep.

Booth was sleeping on the couch, a light blanket covering him, his work clothes draped carefully over the back of a chair to keep them from getting wrinkled. He had checked on Bones just an hour before, glad to see that she was resting peacefully instead of the tossing and turning she had done the first few hours while her body worked to fight off the infection that was making her sick.

A soft noise brought him back to wakefulness and he opened his eyes to see Brennan standing beside him, a blanket wrapped loosely around her shoulders. "Bones, are you okay?" he asked as he started to sit up.

Her hand on his chest stopped him before he could make it all the way up and as he settled back into the couch, she followed him, stretching out beside him in the small space. He shifted to make more room for her, but she merely draped herself across him, intertwining her legs with his and resting her head on his bare chest. "I don't want to sleep by myself anymore," she whispered against his skin, her breath tickling him. "I want you to hold me in your arms."

"There's more room in your bed," he pointed out even as he spread the blanket over them both.

"This is nice," she whispered. "You're so warm and solid."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her snug against his body, and then brushed a kiss against her head. "This is nice," he agreed.

He felt the brush of her lips against his chest and then a soft sigh as she relaxed against him and once again drifted off to sleep. He lay there for several minutes, listening to her soft, even breathing, his hands idly tracing patterns on her back. He whispered a quiet prayer of thanks for the opportunity to have such an amazing woman in his life and then he relaxed, his concern for her abated as the steady beat of her heart against his chest lulled him into sleep.

Brennan awoke slowly, feeling a bit disoriented and not quite sure why. As the events of the previous day flooded her mind, she took a quick inventory of herself and realized that she felt almost normal again. She started to stir, but stopped herself when she realized that her head was resting comfortably against a very solid, very masculine and very naked chest. She smiled against said chest when she felt his arms tighten around her slightly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"I feel great," she replied as she lifted her head to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"I've actually been awake for a while," he confessed. "I was just enjoying watching you sleep."

"That's kind of creepy, you know," she teased him.

He shrugged and gave her a grin. "If you didn't want me to watch you sleep, you shouldn't have crawled on top of me in the middle of the night."

"Sorry about that," she replied, sounding anything but.

"I'm not," he replied. "Three nights is way too many to sleep without you in my arms."

She leaned up and pressed her lips against his, her tongue darting out to taste him before she sucked his lower lip into her mouth. She ran her tongue back and forth across it before releasing it and pulling back to look at him.

"Mmm, good morning," he said as he met her gaze once again.

"Good morning," she replied with a smile. "And thank you for taking care of me yesterday."

"You're welcome," he replied.

She leaned down to kiss him again and he slid his hands under the soft cotton of her t-shirt, caressing the silky smooth skin of her lower back as she shifted her weight so she was lying more fully on top of him. He felt her smile against his lips as she straddled his hips, her body coming into full contact with his body's obvious reaction to her.

She circled her hips against his and he groaned into her mouth, breaking the kiss to meet her heated gaze. "Are you sure you feel well enough for this?"

"Probably not," she replied as she placed her hands on either side of his head and pressed into him again. "But you feel way too good to want to stop."

He slid his hands to her hips, pulling her more firmly against him for a brief second before he stilled her movements. He met her questioning gaze with a soft smile. "How about some breakfast and then we'll get cleaned up. After that, we can take a ride over to my place to get some clean clothes and then come back here to veg out on the couch. If you're still feeling this adventurous after all that, I promise to let you have your way with me."

She leaned down and kissed him again, letting her breasts brush against his chest, enjoying the sensation as the thin cotton material shifted across her hardened nipples. She felt his hands tighten on her hips and she pulled back again. "Are you sure?" she asked, lowering her mouth to trail wet kisses from his lips to his shoulder.

He moaned his appreciation, forcing himself to think of something other than how good it would feel to be inside of her body. "I'm positive, Bones," he replied.

She smiled as she kissed her way back to his lips. "Okay then," she said. "But you're making breakfast."

He closed the distance between their lips, giving her a chaste kiss before nudging her off of him. "Unhand me then," he said as he shifted into a seated position. "I must go cook for my woman."

She got to her feet with a chuckle, but once he had managed to untangle himself from the blankets and stand up, she stepped into his personal space once again. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight, noticing with delight that his arms immediately found their way around her as well.

"Thanks again, Booth."

"Anytime, Bones, anytime."

They stood there for several long seconds until she finally stepped away from him and headed towards her bedroom. "I'm going to take a shower while you cook."

He watched her walk away, enjoying the sway of her hips and wondering if she wasn't exaggerating them a bit because she knew he was watching her. He chuckled to himself when she finally turned the corner into her bedroom and he moved to fold the blankets that were now haphazardly strewn across the floor.

Although he was grateful to know that she trusted him enough to see her when she was so vulnerable, he was definitely glad she was feeling better today. As he heard the shower come on, he closed his eyes and pictured her stepping under the hot spray, her body glistening under the water. A soft groan escaped his lips and he said another short prayer that she would continue to feel better throughout the day so he wouldn't feel guilty about taking her up on her offer later that night. He hadn't been joking earlier when he'd told her that three nights was too long to go without having her in his arms.

With a smile on his lips as he thought about how he would give her a nice massage later to ease the soreness from her muscles that she would undoubtedly feel after the achy ness of yesterday, he made his way to the kitchen and began preparing their breakfast.

_

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__Thanks for reading. Now please hit the button below and let me know what you think._


	7. Homecoming

_This chapter is set about four months into their relationship. This one is for Trinity. I hope this is somewhat close to what you asked for._

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"Homecoming"

Booth pulled into his usual parking spot and killed the engine with a sigh. It was late and he was tired, but he was glad that he was finally home. He hated being out of town on a case, especially when Bones wasn't with him. Unfortunately, she had been presenting a lecture at Georgetown this week and there was no way she could get out of it, so he'd been stuck with Zack on the trip to Oregon.

He got out of the SUV and closed the door, then walked back to get his bags out before heading into the apartment building. He noticed that Bones' car wasn't in the lot, so she must've decided to spend the week at her place when he got called away. Not that he blamed her, he knew how much she enjoyed her independence and he wanted her to always feel that they could be in a relationship and she could still be her own person. It was one of the things he loved most about her. Heck, who was he trying to kid? He loved everything about her.

He reached the door to his apartment and noticed the light coming from under it. His first thought was to drop his bags and draw his gun, but before he could actually carry that out, he remembered that the last time he'd come home late from an out-of-town assignment, Bones had left a light on for him, so he settled for resting one hand on his gun as he slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

The sight that greeted him nearly brought tears to his eyes, and if he thought he was exhausted on the drive home, that point was driven home with a bang as his emotions threatened to run away with him from seeing his partner stretched out on the couch with his son securely tucked against her side, both of them sleeping soundly.

He set his bags on the floor and closed the door behind him before walking quietly over to the couch. He stood transfixed for several minutes, his eyes darting back and forth between Bones and Parker, and he knew without a doubt that he was the luckiest man alive.

Kneeling beside them, he reached out and ran a gentle finger down Bones' cheek. Her eyes fluttered open at the contact and he placed a finger over her lips to silence her. "Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," she replied with a smile, being careful to keep her voice down. "We were waiting up for you."

"So I see," he replied. "Let me carry Parker to bed and I'll be back for you."

She nodded her agreement and moved her arms so Booth could slide his arms under Parker. The movement didn't even faze the sleeping child as he merely snuggled against Booth's shoulder as he stood and carried him to his bedroom.

Booth laid Parker in his bed and tucked him in, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead before turning around to head back to the living room. Before he made it out of the room, he saw Bones carrying his bags and heading down the hallway. He merely shook his head at her and reached out to take one of the bags.

"I got the lights already," she said as she led him to their bedroom. "Let's go to bed."

"I didn't see your car outside," Booth said as they walked into the room. "I figured you'd opted for your place this week."

"Rebecca called me at work earlier to see when you were going to be back in town," she replied as she dropped his bag by the closet and turned to face him. "I'm not sure I got the entire story, but I think she said Brent's brother had been in an accident and they were going to fly out this afternoon to help his wife with the twins while he was in the hospital. Since it was your weekend to have Parker, I told her to go ahead and bring him over and I'd take care of him until you got back. When she got to the lab, I realized that I had my sports car and Parker's booster seat wouldn't work in the front seat, and well, to make a long story short, Angela dropped us off here. I figured you could always give me a ride back to the Jeffersonian later this weekend."

"Or maybe just drop you off at work Monday morning?" he asked with a grin.

"That would work, too," she agreed as she watched him undo the buttons on his shirt and slip it off before pulling his t-shirt over his head and tossing them both into the laundry basket. She could tell from his posture how tired he was, regardless of the effect his rippling muscles were having on her as she watched him strip down to his boxers. Needing a distraction, she moved to turn down the covers. "You know, Booth, I was thinking that maybe we could go look at cars sometime in the near future."

He paused on his way to the bathroom and turned to look at her. "Why? Has yours been acting up again?"

"No," she replied as she moved to the other side of the bed and sat down so she could watch as he unpacked his toiletries and prepared to brush his teeth. "It's been running fin since we got it back the last time."

He finished brushing his teeth and dried his hands and face before turning off the light and heading back to the bedroom. "So why do you want to go car shopping then?" he asked as he placed his small toiletry bag back into the closet.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, but today just reinforced the fact that my car really isn't that practical. Especially when we're spending time with Parker. It just makes sense to get something that he can ride in, too. I mean, what happens if your SUV is in the shop or something and we want to take him somewhere with..."

The rest of her sentence was cut off by his mouth covering hers in a heated kiss. His sudden movement caught her off guard and her gasp of surprise allowed his tongue entrance into her mouth. Her arms went around his waist as he shifted them so they were lying on the bed. He settled his weight on his elbows as his hands held her head while he kissed her.

Her hands trailed up and down the bare expanse of his back, feeling the muscles bunch under her fingertips as he shifted to settle himself between her legs. He continued kissing her, his tongue slowly exploring her mouth, savoring the feeling of being in her arms again.

When he finally broke off the kiss and leaned back to look at her, she was smiling at him. "Not that I'm complaining, Booth, but what was that for?"

His gaze met hers and she could see the exhaustion etched on his face. But there was something in his eyes, something she couldn't define, or maybe didn't want to define. He just looked at her for so long she was beginning to think he wasn't going to answer her. But then he spoke, his voice so soft that she had to strain to hear him. "Do you have any idea what it means to me when you talk about Parker like that?"

Her eyebrows raised in question as she replayed their conversation in her head. "Like what, Booth?"

He shook his head, suddenly realizing how tired he was and how easy it would be to say something that could possibly send her bolting out the door. "Never mind, Bones."

He started to move away from her, but her arms tightened around his waist, holding him where he was. "I thought we'd established that I wasn't going to run from you, Seeley Booth. Shouldn't that be a two-way street?"

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Nodding his agreement, he finished his earlier though. "When you talk about Parker like he's a part of this thing between us, like he's a part of us."

At his admission, she realized why he had hesitated to tell her. She's made it perfectly clear that she had no desire to have children. Perhaps it was time to let him in on a couple of her own realizations. Keeping one hand on his waist, she lifted the other to his face, her fingers trailing along the day old growth on his cheek. "Booth, Parker is a part of you so that automatically makes him a part of us. And I have to be honest with you, while I might not be keen on the idea of having children of my own, I can't imagine my life without Parker in it. He's so much like you that I don't think I could love him any more if he was my own child."

She saw the tears glistening in his eyes and reached up to wipe away a stray one. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why the tears?"

"Because I love you, Temperance Brennan." The words were out before he could stop them and for a brief moment, he was afraid that he'd finally reached the limit. The smile on her face eased his fears, as did the next words out of her mouth.

"Good, because I'm pretty sure that I love you, too."

He leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss against her lips. "You're the most amazing person I've ever known, Bones."

"And you're so tired you can't see straight," she replied, trying to lighten the moment. "Come on Booth, let's get some sleep. You can show me how amazing you think I am in the morning."

He rolled off of her, moving to his back before pulling her into his embrace. As she snuggled against his shoulder, he gave a sigh of contentment. "It's good to be home, Bones."

"It's good to have you home, Booth."

Their lips met for one more gentle kiss before they settled down and quickly fell asleep wrapped up in their love for each other.

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_Thank you to everyone who has sent reviews so far. I love to read them and am always open for suggestions and/or comments. Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think._


	8. Going Public

_My apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. Real life got in the way. This chapter is dedicated to Rebekadunn who has waited so patiently for the wild, crazy sex and to Leah, who writes such wonderful reviews to keep me inspired. A big shout out to both of you for your wonderful encouragement._

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"Going Public"

Brennan rolled to her side and propped herself up on her elbow to watch Booth sleep. It was the Saturday before Memorial Day and they had accepted an invitation to Hodgins' place for a cookout. The sun streaming through her bedroom window assured her that they were going to have a beautiful day to spend outdoors with their friends, and she was only slightly apprehensive about the fact that this was their first outing with friends as a "couple." Booth stirred slightly and she reached out her hand to trace along his cheek, feeling the slight stubble that covered his face. The man was absolutely beautiful, especially when his face was relaxed in sleep, a slight smile playing about his lips, causing her to wonder what he was dreaming about.

When he settled again, she allowed herself the luxury of tracing a finger down his jaw to his neck and then across his clavicle to his shoulder. He had the most amazing shoulders she had ever seen on a man, and she couldn't get enough of touching him. Her gaze followed her finger as it moved back across his shoulder and down his chest until reaching his nipple. She scratched her nail over it gently and watched as it hardened in response. Hearing a soft moan escape his lips, she quickly lifted her gaze to his, only to find that he was still sleeping.

She reached for the sheet that was draped across his lower body and pulled it away from him, exposing his entire body to his view. A quick glance back to his face assured her that he was still sleeping, so she went back to her exploration of his body. Moving her hand back to his chest, she flattened her palm over the steady beat of his heart before slowly moving lower. When her hand grazed across his abdominal muscles, she felt them contract beneath her. When he emitted another soft moan, she felt her own reaction to the sound. She'd never known a man who could arouse her so easily before. Even in his sleep, Booth could turn her on.

As her gaze drifted lower on his body, she wasn't surprised to see that he was already half hard. She felt herself grow even wetter at the sight and she shifted closer to him, intending to wrap her hand around his erection. Before she could reach her prize, she found herself thrown to her back, her hands pinned above her head and a very much awake Seeley Booth lying on top of her.

Her surprise came out in the form of a squeal and Booth smiled as he looked down into her eyes. "Taking advantage of a federal agent while he's sleeping is a crime, Bones."

"Are you going to punish me?" she teased as she shifted beneath him so that he was cradled between her thighs.

"I would but I think you would enjoy it too much," he replied as he moved his hands so that both of hers were held captive in one of his.

"Holding the partner of a federal agent captive against her will is a crime, too," she retorted as she struggled against his hold on her.

He lowered his fee hand down to cup her breast, squeezing her nipple gently before lifting his gaze back to hers. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked as he tweaked her nipple again.

She moaned softly and arched into his hand. "Please, Booth."

"Please what, Bones?" he whispered as he lowered his head to her breast. "You didn't answer my question. Do you want me to stop?"

His breath was warm against her skin and she felt his tongue slip out to glide across the top of her breast as he continued to roll her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She shifted slightly beneath him, the movement bringing their lower bodies into closer contact, and she felt his moan of approval against her skin. "No," she finally replied. "I don't want you to stop."

He replaced his hand with her mouth, sucking on her nipple and relishing in the gasp that escaped her lips. "Please, Booth," she said again. "I need you."

"You've already got me," he assured her as she lifted his head to meet her eyes.

She smiled at that and then lifted her hips, letting him feel her wetness slide against his erection. "Inside of me, Booth. Now."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a very demanding woman?" he teased as he released her hands and shifted against her until just his tip was inside of her.

"And you're a tease," she replied as she lifted her hips to bring him further into her body. She wrapped her legs around him and used her feet on his ass to encourage him to go deeper. Once he was fully sheathed inside of her, she placed one hand on the back of his head and pulled his lips down to hers. Her lips opened against his and she traced her tongue along his lower lip before sucking it into her mouth.

He pulled back slightly to smile at her. "You are definitely feeling feisty this morning, aren't you?"

"You have no idea," she replied as she lifted her hips into his, encouraging him to move.

"Show me," he challenged as he followed her lead, pulling out of her slightly before sliding back into her warmth.

She moaned her appreciation before she replied. "I was in the process of doing exactly that before you woke up and pinned me on my back. Now you're just going to have to wait until later."

"Is that a promise?" he asked as he withdrew from her again.

"I might even use the handcuffs," she offered.

He groaned and slid back into her. "You're going to be the death of me, you know that?"

She tightened her muscles around him as she smiled. "But what a way to go, Booth."

He returned her smile and then lowered his lips to hers while he shifted to his elbows for better leverage. When she traced her hands down his back to his ass and squeezed, he knew he wasn't going to last long. He trailed his lips down to her neck, licking and sucking at the soft skin he found there even as he moved one hand to her breast to tease her nipple.

She hissed his name as she arched into his touch and he smiled against her neck, loving the way his name sounded coming from her lips. He continued teasing her nipple as their pace grew more frantic, their heartbeats racing and their breathing erratic.

"Look at me, Booth."

He lifted his head from her shoulder to meet her gaze and she smiled up at him. "Perfect," she whispered. He returned her smile and then she was stiffening beneath him, her orgasm pushing him over the edge as well.

It was several minutes later when Booth lifted his head from her shoulder with a bright smile. He waited until she opened her eyes to look at him and then he leaned down to kiss her. "Good morning, Temperance."

"Good morning, Seeley," she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He leaned in for another kiss before he asked. "Do we have time for another round?"

She turned her head to see the clock and then sighed. "Not if we're going to get cleaned up and make the food for the cookout."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," he joked as he rolled to his side. "I'm going to hold you to your promise later though."

"I know you will," she replied. "That's why I made it."

He laughed as he reached for her hand. "Come on, I'll wash your back so we can save time in the shower and then we can start on lunch preparations."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are you having a good time?" Booth asked as he walked up behind Brennan and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She had admitted to him on the drive over that she was a little nervous about their first public appearance as a couple and he had assured her that things would be fine, reminding her that these were their friends and they would be happy for them. Aside from some good-natured teasing, nobody had even seem fazed by their change in relationship status. Even Cam had given them a smile of approval.

Turning to look over her shoulder at him, she gave him a bright smile. "I am. How about you?"

He returned her smile and pulled her back against him in a hug. "Absolutely. Angela sent me to entice you over to play a game with us. Are you up for it or am I going to have to throw you over my shoulder and drag you kicking and screaming?"

"You wouldn't," she said. When she felt his arms tighten around her, she laughed. "Who am I trying to fool? Of course you would. You and your alpha male tendencies."

He waggled his eyebrows at her and grinned. "You can pretend all you want, but I have it on good authority that you like it when I occasionally go alpha male on you. In fact, I seem to remember that the last time I threw you over my shoulder, you ended up begging me for more and then..."

She turned quickly in his embrace to put a hand over his mouth, her face flushing at the memory he was referring to. "I don't think our friends need to know about every aspect of our relationship, Booth."

He nodded his agreement even as he smiled beneath her hand. After a quick wink at her and a well-placed kiss to the palm of her hand, she smiled and lowered her hand. Releasing her from his embrace, he took her hand in his. "Come on then, Bones. Let's go see what kind of game Angela has dreamed up for us."

They made their way across the yard to where the remaining few guests had assembled. "We saved you guys the best seats," Angela commented as she indicated the swing.

"Much appreciated," Booth replied as they made themselves comfortable on the swing. He waited until Brennan was settled comfortably beside him before he set it into a gentle swaying motion.

"What game are we playing, Angela?" Brennan asked as she looked around the circle of guests. There were only ten of them remaining, most of the other guests having left over the course of the last hour. Cam and her date, Justin, were seated directly to Brennan's left. Next to them were Hodgins and Angela, then Sweets and his new girlfriend, Isabelle. Finishing out the circle was Zack and his date, Lori, who was seated directly to Booth's right.

"The game is called 'I've never'. We all start out by putting ten fingers in the air. Each person in the circle gets the opportunity to state something that they've never done. If you have done that particular activity, you put a finger down. If you haven't, you keep all of your fingers up. The goal is to be the last person with fingers still in the air."

"Are there topics that are off limits?" Sweets asked.

"Generally, no," Angela replied. "But we can alter those rules if everybody wants to."

The group looked around at each other and Booth gave a sheepish smile. "In deference to our guests, how about we keep this from getting too morbid?"

"So I can't say I've never had to touch a decomposing body?" Justin asked.

"Exactly," Booth replied as they all shared a laugh.

"Sounds fair to me," Angela agreed. "Is everyone agreed?"

As they all nodded their agreement, Angela turned to Hodgins. "As the host of this little get together, why don't you go first?"

"Okay," he agreed. He waited until all of them had held up their hands with all of their fingers extended before he began. "I've never been a parent."

Booth groaned as he lowered a finger, noticing that he was the only one in the group who did so. "You guys have no idea what you're missing out on," he stated.

Angela went next and with a pointed look at Brennan said, "I've never had a boat named after me."

Brennan lowered a finger with a shake of her head. "Nice, Angela."

"I've never gotten a tattoo," Sweets piped up, smiling as he watched Booth, Brennan Angela, Cam, Isabelle, and Zack all lower a finger.

"I've never been engaged," Isabelle said. The group laughed as Hodgins and Angela both lowered a finger and then leaned into each other for a kiss.

"I've never gotten anything lower than an A minus on a test," Zack piped in. He was surprised when everyone except Brennan lowered a finger.

"Seriously, Bones?" Booth asked. "You've never even had a B?"

"Never," she replied.

"I've never gotten a doctorate," Lori said, earning herself a groan from most of the group and a smile from Booth.

"I've never been arrested," Booth said, earning an elbow to the ribs from Brennan.

"I'm not sure that's fair," Hodgins stated. "After all, it was your idea that got me arrested, and you're the one who arrested Dr. Brennan."

"I don't think playing fair was a requirement in the rules," Booth replied with a grin.

"Okay then," Brennan replied. "I've never been shot."

"Touche'," Booth stated as he lowered another finger.

Cam smiled as she gave Angela a pointed look. "I've never had sex in the storage closet at the Jeffersonian."

Angela and Hodgins both lowered a finger and then the entire group shared a laugh when Zack also lowered one.

"Seriously, Zack?" Booth asked.

"It's not something I'm proud of," Zack replied.

"Should we require proof?" Booth asked, earning himself another elbow from Brennan.

"Be nice, Booth. It's your turn, Justin."

"I've never played this game before," Justin said.

Surprisingly enough, only Angela lowered a finger on that one. "I can't believe nobody else has played this game," she said.

"I've never been ordered to partner's therapy," Jack said, noticing with glee that Booth and Brennan were both down to only five fingers.

Angela met Brennan's eye and winked at her. "I've never had sex with Booth."

Brennan lowered a finger and then turned to look at Cam expectantly. "So much for keeping that cat in the bag," she mumbled as she lowered a finger.

"No way," Hodgins stated.

"It was a long time ago," Booth said. "Sweets, your turn."

"I've never been on a motorcycle," Sweets offered. Several fingers went down on that one, including Brennan and Booth.

"Did you enjoy it?" Booth asked as he leaned closer to her.

"Yes," she replied. "It was very exhilarating."

"Remind me to take you riding someday," he told her.

They made it around the entire group twice more before Angela was finally eliminated when Booth stuck his tongue out at her and said, "I've never been married."

Jumping out of turn, Hodgins retaliated with, "I've never been to a ceramics class with my therapist."

Booth and Brennan both lowered their last finger and Booth shot Sweets a dirty look. "See, I told you that social experiment was a bad idea."

"I'd have to say there is plenty of evidence to the contrary on that one, Agent Booth," Sweets replied as he nodded to where Brennan's hand was resting comfortably on Booth's thigh.

"He might have a point," Brennan agreed.

"Maybe."

It took the remaining players three more times around the circle before Lori was officially declared the winner, knocking Sweets out of the game with her, "I've never been published."

The group gave her a round of applause and she smiled shyly at the praise. "This was a lot of fun," she said.

"Definitely," Cam agreed. "A good choice in games, Angela."

Angela beamed at the compliment. "Thank you. And thank you all for coming today. Jack and I really appreciate your friendship and the opportunity to spend time together outside of the office."

"I'll second that," Booth agreed.

A loud chorus of agreement rang out and Angela waited until it had died down before she got to her feet. "Would anyone like another drink or maybe some dessert?"

Several of them stated that they would and Brennan offered to help her. "Stay where you are, Sweetie," Angela told her. "Jack can help me."

Brennan started to protest, but Booth wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. "You heard Angela, Bones. Stay here with me."

"Are you sure?" Brennan asked.

"Positive," Angela replied. "It's too much fun seeing you so relaxed to make you move."

Brennan merely shook her head and relaxed back against Booth, loving the feel of his solid chest beneath her head. She gave his thigh a squeeze and felt his fingers tighten ever so slightly on her shoulder as he continued the conversation he was having with Justin.

It was several hours later when the rest of them decided to call it a night and head their separate ways. "We should definitely do this again," Booth said as he shook Hodgins' hand..

"Especially if you make that chocolate pie again," Angela replied.

"Count on it," Booth promised her.

"Thanks, Angela," Brennan said as she pulled her best friend into a hug. "I had a great time."

"I'm glad, Bren," Angela replied.

Booth waited until the women had separated before he pulled Angela into a hug himself. "You're good for her," Angela whispered to him.

"It's mutual," he assured her before he released her. "And so are you."

They called their goodbyes to the others and then Booth reached for Brennan's hand, interlacing their fingers as they walked around the house to his SUV.

"So?" he asked once they were out of earshot of the others.

"I had a great time, Booth," she replied. "I'm glad we came."

"Me, too." After a brief pause, he added, "So you've never had sex in the storage closet at the Jeffersonian?"

She laughed and bumped her shoulder against his. "No, and don't get any ideas either. There are cameras everywhere in that place. How do you think Cam found out about Angela and Hodgins in the first place?"

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Seriously," she replied. "So the Jeffersonian is out of the question."

"Even your office?" he asked hopefully.

"Booth!"

"What?" he asked, trying to sound innocent. "I can't help it if I have this crazy fantasy of walking into your office, closing the blinds, locking the door and then throwing you on your desk and having my way with you."

"You are so bad," she said.

"Like you've never thought about it," he replied.

"Once or twice," she admitted.

"Cameras?" he asked.

"Pretty much blocked out if the blinds are completely closed," she confessed. "But that would be completely unprofessional."

"Something to think about on the drive home," he said as they reached the SUV and he moved to open the door for her.

Her hand on his arm stopped him and he turned to give her a questioning glance. She surprised him by leaning into him and kissing him. He recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush against his as they gently explored each other's mouth.

When they broke apart, he smiled at her. "Not that I'm complaining. But what was that for?"

"Something to think about on the drive home," she replied as she stepped out of his embrace and got into the SUV.

He closed the door and made his way to the driver's side. "She is definitely going to be the death of me," he mumbled. "But what a way to go."

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_I love reading reviews, so if you feel so inclined, please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long to get posted._


	9. The Birthday

_Since I wasn't sure if it had ever been mentioned on the show, I chose to have Brennan's birthday be late summer/early fall. If you know differently, please let me know._

_A big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review the previous chapters. I love hearing what people think of my stories._

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"The Birthday"

6:25 p.m.

Booth's Apartment

Brennan stopped at the door to Booth's apartment and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She took a look down at her herself to make sure she was completely put together and then laughed at herself, knowing that her appearance hadn't changed in the five seconds since the last time she had checked. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous tonight. It wasn't like this was the first time they'd ever had dinner together. They had been seeing each other for several months now and most of their dinners these days ended up back at one of their places for the night. However, it was her birthday, and he had been so secretive this week that he'd made her jumpy with anticipation. He had promised her that he was going to make this a birthday she would never forget and she was ready to find out what he had up his sleeve...aside from those incredible arms.

Taking one more calming breath, she reached up and knocked on his door. The butterflies in her stomach continued to thrash about crazily until he opened the door with a smile in place. "Hi there."

"Hi yourself," she replied with an answering smile.

He stepped back to allow her to enter and his gaze roamed over her appreciatively. The black dress she wore barely touched her knees, with a slit on the side that he knew would show off half of her thigh if she moved just right. His gaze trailed down her legs, noticing they were bare before her feet slid into a modest pair of high heels. He slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin against her practically bare shoulder. "I love this dress."

"Thank you," she replied as she placed her hands over his where they rested on her stomach. "Something smells wonderful."

"I was just thinking the same thing," he replied as he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent.

"I was referring to dinner," she said with a laugh as she leaned back against him.

"And I was referring to dessert," he replied, earning him a mock glare over her shoulder.

"Happy birthday," he said as he kissed the spot just below her ear.

"Thank you."

"Have you had a good day?"

"It's getting better," she replied as she turned in his arms to face him. "I missed you today."

"I missed you, too."

Her hands had found their way to the back of his neck and she played with the hair there as she grinned up at him. "Do you realize that I've been in your apartment for almost two full minutes and you have yet to kiss me?"

He returned her smile and then made quick work of remedying that oversight. His lips brushed against hers lightly, a barely there kiss that left her wanting more.

"I want a real kiss, Booth," she said, effectively stopping him as he started to pull away from her.

"I'm afraid that if I start kissing you now, we're going to end up skipping dinner again," he admitted as he reached up to brush a strand of hair from her face. "And I want tonight to be special for you."

"Any time that we spend together is special to me," she pointed out. "But since you've gone to so much trouble tonight, I promise we won't get carried away."

He knew he couldn't refuse her when she looked at him like that, so he slid his hand down to her jaw and then slowly leaned down to kiss her.

Her lips were soft under his and parted almost immediately, her tongue darting out to taste his lips before he met it with his own, once again losing himself in the taste of her. It was several long seconds later when she pulled away from him slightly, her lips moving from his lips to his jaw. "Now it's a happy birthday," she sighed against his skin.

"We're just getting started, baby," he said as he pulled her into a hug.

"I can't wait then," she replied as she returned his embrace before forcing herself to take a step away from him. "So what's on the menu for dinner?"

Instead of answering her, he took her hand in his and led her into the dining room. There was soft music playing in the background, but she pulled up short at the sight of the candlelit table, her gaze quickly taking in the fine china, the bottle of wine chilling at the side of the table and the single red rose in a vase in the center of the table. She squeezed his hand, suddenly overcome by emotion.

"I thought we'd try something a little classier than takeout tonight," he finally said as he pulled out a chair for her. "Come on, Temperance, have a seat and I'll bring out dinner."

He waited until she was seated before excusing himself to the kitchen. While he was gone, she picked up the vase and smelled the rose. The nervousness she had felt earlier was completely gone, replaced only by a sense of excitement.

As she returned the vase to its place on the table, he walked back into the room carrying a tray in his hands. He made a production out of placing the covered dishes on the table and then quickly returned the tray to the kitchen. Before he lifted the lids from their dinner, he opened the bottle of wine and poured them both a glass. He placed the wine back in the ice bucket and leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips as he lifted the lids.

"I wasn't sure whether to try something new and possibly crash and burn or to go with an old staple and possibly crash and burn, so I decided to combine the two and hopefully come up with something you love."

"You naked in the bed?" she asked with a smile.

"Almost as good," he replied, refusing to take the bait. "But for now you'll have to settle for chicken parmesan and macaroni and cheese."

"And then I can get you naked in the bed later?" she asked as he dished the food onto their plates.

"Absolutely," he agreed. He finished serving the food and then sat down in his chair. He waited until she had taken a bite before picking up his own fork. "How is it?"

"It's wonderful, Booth. Thank you."

"Wait until you see what I have planned for dessert."

"I thought we'd already agreed that dessert would be you...naked...and in your bed?"

"You really have a one-track mind, Bones. Do you know that?"

"I've never heard you complain before."

"I'm not complaining now," he pointed out. "Merely making an observation. And trying to actually make it through an entire meal with you."

She laughed at the reminder of how many dinners they had left getting cold while they enjoyed much more pleasurable activities. "This is really good, Booth. I am once again amazed by your culinary skills."

"When I told you that I wanted to cook dinner for your birthday, you were expecting grilled cheese, weren't you?"

She glanced down at her plate guiltily before meeting his gaze again. "Actually, I figured it would be take out. Or if you were really going to cook, something very simple."

"Like grilled cheese?" he prompted.

"No, definitely not grilled cheese." She took a sip of her wine and then flashed him a bright smile before dropping her bombshell. "I was actually expecting peanut butter and jelly."

He smiled at her remark and took a sip of his wine before he responded. "Don't knock the pb & j, Bones. I know many a man who made it through college living on such delicacies."

"And I suppose you considered making grilled cheese with an iron quite the impressive feat, didn't you?" she teased.

He rewarded her with a bright smile. "It was only slightly better than cold pizza and milk for breakfast."

"That's disgusting, Booth."

"Then you should consider yourself lucky that my cooking has gotten better over time," he replied. "I even made you chocolate mousse for dessert."

Her eyebrows rose at that. "Homemade, not carryout?"

He smiled at her before he got up and headed back into the kitchen, only to return carrying two dishes of thick, chocolate mousse. "I told you I was going to make tonight special," he said as he placed one of them in front of her.

She picked up her spoon and dipped it into the mousse, scooping up a large bite and placing it in her mouth. Her eyes closed as she savored it and she let out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair.

"Is that your stamp of approval?" he asked as he made his way back over to his own chair.

"It's delicious, Booth."

"I'm glad you like it." He watched as she ate another spoonful of her dessert before tasting his own. As much as he enjoyed the flavor of it, it was definitely more exciting to watch her eat it. He leaned back in his chair and watched her as she finished her entire dish.

When she finished, she leaned back with a contented sigh. "Thank you, Booth."

He lifted his wineglass and leaned forward. "To you, Temperance. Happy birthday."

She lifted her own glass and clinked it against his before they both took a sip. As she returned her glass to the table, she smiled at him. "This has been the best birthday celebration I've had in a long time, Booth."

Instead of responding to her, he stood up and held out his hand. "Dance with me?"

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her into his arms. Her arms locked behind his neck as his came to rest at the small of her back. "I love being in your arms like this," she said as she rested her head on his shoulders and they swayed to the music.

"And I love holding you," he agreed. "I think we should find an excuse to be like this more often."

"I agree."

They moved together in silence for several minutes before Brennan shifted her head so her lips brushed against his neck. He responded by lowering his lips to her shoulder, placing gentle kisses along the strap of her dress as they continued to sway.

Her hands slid from his neck to his shoulders, loving the way his muscles flexed under the thin material of his dress shirt. His hands slid down to cup her bottom, pulling her body tight against his.

"I want to unwrap my present now," she whispered as she trailed her lips to his ear. "I've been a very good girl all day."

He chuckled at that, but released her from his grasp, taking her by the hand and leading her to his bedroom. As they stepped into his bedroom, he finally gave in to the desire to kiss her. She tasted like chocolate, wine and something that was uniquely her. He took his time kissing her, savoring the feel of her lips under his, the way her body fit snugly against his.

When he felt her hands reach for the buttons of his shirt, he pulled away from her. "Let me love you tonight, Temperance," he whispered. "I want to show you how special you are to me."

She thought briefly to argue that he always showed her how special she was to him, but instead she nodded her agreement, desperate to feel his hands and lips on her again. He didn't make her wait long as he leaned down to kiss her again. As he slanted his mouth over hers, his fingers found the zipper on the back of her dress and slowly worked it down. His fingers made their way to the thin straps on her shoulders and eased them down her arms until gravity took over and the dress was in a pile at their feet.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured as he trailed kisses down to her neck. He kissed his way over to her right shoulder, his tongue slipping under her bra strap as his fingers unhooked the clasp. He nudged the strap off her shoulder and followed it with his lips, kissing his way to her fingers before moving to the other shoulder and repeating the process.

When her breasts were completely exposed to his view, he met her gaze. "So incredibly beautiful," he said again as he cupped her breasts in his hands before leaning in to kiss her again.

She arched her back, pressing her breasts more fully into his hands and he responded by squeezing them. As he grasped her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers and rolled them gently, she moaned her appreciation into his mouth. He smiled against her lips before trailing kisses down her throat to the curve of her breasts. As he lifted one taut nipple into his mouth, she lifted a hand to the back of his head and held him closer.

"Booth, that feels so good," she murmured as she closed her eyes to enjoy the sensations.

He flicked his tongue against the nipple in his mouth before grasping it between his teeth and gently biting it. Brennan let out a gasp at the sensation so he repeated the action before switching to her other nipple to give it equal attention. Her fingers scraped along his scalp as he continued to suckle her, her soft moans guiding his actions.

Brennan felt the moisture pooling between her legs as Booth continued to tease her nipples. There were times when she was almost certain that she could orgasm just from his hands and mouth on her breasts. She loved the erotic sounds he made as he sucked her nipples into his mouth and the feeling of his warm tongue as it flicked back and forth against her. When he scraped his teeth across her erect nipples, she could feel the pull of it all the way down to her core.

"Please Booth," she whispered, desperate for more of him.

In response, he lifted his head from her breasts and kissed her fully on the mouth as he gently pushed her back towards the bed. When he felt the back of her knees make contact with the mattress, he broke off the kiss and pulled back slightly. "Lie down for me, baby."

She quickly complied, stretching out in the middle of the bed and watching as he stripped his clothes off until he was wearing only his boxers. Her eyes roamed appreciatively over his well-defined chest and abs as he knelt on the side of the bed and then crawled over to stretch out beside her.

He propped himself up on one elbow before reaching out to trace a finger across her lips. "Have I told you today how much I love you?" he asked.

"Once or twice," she replied, still amazed that the concept of love no longer seemed foreign to her. "But I won't stop you if you want to say it again."

His finger slid from her lips down to her jaw line and then he opened his hand to cup her face. "I think you're amazing, Bones," he said softly. "And I love you with every beat of my heart."

She turned her head to place a kiss against his palm, one of her hands coming up to hold his hand against her face. "I love you too, Booth. With every breath I draw, I love you more than I ever thought possible."

He smiled at her words before leaning down to kiss her again. Her lips parted under his and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. He slid his tongue against hers before pulling back to suck on her lower lip and then dipping back into her mouth. She moaned slightly and he repeated the action as his hand slid from her face down to her breasts again.

He tweaked each nipple once more before placing his hand flat on her belly and sliding it lower. When he reached the lace of her panties, he slid his hand inside of them, desperate to feel her heat. As he slid his hand down to cup her, he broke off the kiss and pulled back to look at her.

She gave him a mischievous smile as she saw his eyes dart down to her panties and then back up to her eyes. "Do you like it?" she asked.

He shifted to his knees, his hands making quick work of removing her panties to confirm with his eyes what he'd already discovered with his hand. As he tossed her panties to the side, his eyes drank in the sight of her. Where normally he would've found her curls wet from her desire for him, she was completely bare.

His eyes shifted to her face again before once again dropping to look at her bare skin. "When?" he finally managed to ask.

"Angela convinced me to take a long lunch and visit the salon with her today," she replied as she watched him looking at her. "I told her that you wouldn't tell me what you were planning for my birthday and she suggested that I get waxed to give you a little surprise of your own. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

He lifted his hand and slowly reached out to touch her. Her skin was incredibly smooth and soft under his fingertips and he could see the wetness glistening on her folds.

"So...do you like it?" she asked again.

He traced his fingers all around her, enjoying the satiny feel of her before lifting his eyes to hers again. "It's very sexy, Bones. Very sexy."

She smiled at him and then sucked in a breath as two of his fingers slipped inside of her. He leaned forward until his lips found hers again and he kissed her hard before pulling back with a big smile. "That just might be the sexiest thing I've ever seen, Bones."

Before she had a chance to reply, he lowered his mouth to taste her and anything she might have said was lost on a long moan as his tongue flicked against her clit. He slid his fingers into her again as he sucked her clit into his mouth and she gasped at the intensity of the pleasure that shot through her.

"Booth, I'm not going to last long if you keep doing that."

He lifted his head long enough to reply, "That's kind of the point, Bones. It is your birthday, after all."

"But I want you with me," she said as he once again sucked her clit into his mouth.

"All in due time, Bones. I promise. Now stop talking and feel. I want you to come for me."

She closed her eyes and grabbed the sheet in her hands as her hips arched into Booth's touch. It was amazing how well he knew her body and exactly how to touch her to make her come undone. He increased the tempo of his fingers as they slid in and out of her body, his tongue matching the rhythm against her clit. When he slid his free hand up to pinch a nipple, her body exploded in pleasure, his name a sharp hiss on her lips.

He continued thrusting into her until her spasms subsided and then he slowed his pace, his tongue drawing lazy circles around her clit as he slowly removed his fingers from her. Feeling her relax beneath him, he kissed a lazy trail back up her body. "You are so incredibly beautiful," he whispered against her skin. "I love watching you come in my arms."

She smiled as she draped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Her tongue darted into his mouth, tasting herself on his lips. When he pulled back slightly, her hands moved down his back, pushing his boxers off of his hips and then cupping his ass. "It's my birthday, Booth," she reminded him. "And I really want you inside of me now."

He needed no further encouragement, as he was more than ready to feel her clenching around him. He quickly kicked his boxers the rest of the way off and then shifted so he was sheathed inside of her. They both let out a sigh of appreciation and Brennan couldn't help the giggle that escaped. When he lifted an eyebrow in question, she explained, "This is how I've wanted to spend every birthday since the day I met you. It's a great birthday wish come true."

"Do you have any other wishes I can make come true for you, Bones?" he asked as he slowly pulled out of her before sliding back in.

"You can do that again," she replied.

"With pleasure." He set up a slow rhythm, pulling almost completely out of her with each thrust before he buried himself completely once again. As their passion built, he laced his fingers with hers and lifted their hands above her head. Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her, his tongue dipping into her mouth in time with their lower bodies. As he felt his climax approaching, he lifted his head to look into her eyes. "Happy birthday, Bones."

Her eyes locked with his and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she watched him lose control, his climax causing his body to shudder above hers. Feeling him explode inside her pushed her over the edge as well and she hissed his name in appreciation as the pleasure overtook her.

Booth shifted his weight to avoid crushing her, but he refused to lose the contact with her body, pulling her to her side as he rolled off of her. They lay together for several minutes, peppering each other with gentle kisses as their bodies relaxed. When their breathing had finally returned to normal, Brennan spoke. "I think you succeeded in making this the best birthday ever, Booth."

"It's not over yet," he said as he lifted his hand and pushed the hair off her face.

"I think I might need to rest for a few minutes if you're planning more of the same," she teased.

"Actually, you still haven't opened your present," he said as he rolled out of bed.

"I thought you were my present," she offered as she watched him walk across the room to his dresser.

"Just part of it," he replied as he opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small box. As he turned to make his way back to the bed, he noticed her eyes trail appreciatively down his body. "See something you like, Bones?" he teased.

She smiled as she lifted her gaze to his. "Just admiring my present, Booth."

He laughed as he slid into the bed beside her and handed her the box. "This is the rest of your gift."

She sat up and leaned back against the headboard before she opened the box. Her eyes widened as the gold bracelet sparkled in the faint light coming in through the window. As she lifted it from the box, she noticed the tiny charms hanging from it and she slid it through her fingers to take notice of each one.

When she finally met his gaze, there were tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful, Booth."

He smiled softly and then reached for the bracelet to help her put it on. "The dolphin is for your parents," he began as he hooked the clasp and then touched each charm. "The flower is symbolic of the mistletoe we shared our first kiss under. The baseball glove is a reminder of our first date. The spoon is for the first time you let me take care of you while you were sick. And well...the infinity symbol is to remind you of how long I'm going to love you. And there's plenty of room to add more charms, you know, if you want."

She reached her hand up to the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss. "It's amazing, Booth. I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Bones."

They shared another lingering kiss before Booth moved the box to the nightstand and reached down to pull the covers over them. "I love you, Bones."

"I love you, too."

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_In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a hopeless romantic and I write a lot of fluff. I also love reviews, so if you wouldn't mind, please drop me a line._


	10. The Christmas Pageant

_Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review this story. I love getting feedback from others. I know this one is a little out of season, but I hope you guys don't mind too much._

_I'm leaving for vacation this afternoon, so it will probably be a few days before I'll be posting anything new._

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"The Christmas Pageant"

Brennan checked her reflection in the mirror one last time before deciding that she was finally ready to go. Booth was waiting patiently in her living room for her to put the finishing touches on her makeup so they could head to Parker's school for his Christmas play. Although they'd been dating for almost a year, for some reason, this seemed like a really big deal. She was certain it had nothing to do with Parker though, since they spent time together every time Booth had him. In fact, if she was honest with herself, it was more because she knew that Rebecca and Brent were going to be there.

Brennan let out a sigh and headed out of the bedroom. There was no logical reason for her to be nervous about tonight. After all, they were merely four adults who would all be there to support one seven-year-old boy in his acting debut. It wasn't like they were going together or that they even had plans to meet up once they got there. In fact, she was certain that the only contact they would actually have was once the play was over and they all went to congratulate Parker. Unfortunately, that was the part she was having trouble getting comfortable with. It wasn't that she didn't get along with Rebecca, it was more that she knew there was a bond there with Booth that she would never have and when she was being completely honest with herself, it bothered her.

"Are you ready?" Booth's voice broke into her musings.

"I just need to get my coat," she replied as she made her way to the coat closet by the door.

"Let me help you with that," he offered as he stood up and met her by the door.

After helping her on with her coat, he turned her around and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for doing this, Bones. It means a lot to me, and I know it'll mean a lot to Parker to have you there."

"I'm looking forward to seeing him in his shepherd costume," she replied as she wrapped her arms around his waist and returned his hug.

"So why are you dragging your feet?" he asked.

She started to protest, but he silenced her with a finger across her lips. "It took you twenty minutes to change clothes and touch up your makeup, Bones. I've seen you do that in less than five. So what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

Brennan sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder. "It's stupid."

"If it's something that you're feeling, it's not stupid."

She took a deep breath and then leaned back to look him in the eye before she confessed her feelings. "I'm just not looking forward to meeting up with Rebecca and Brent afterwards. As much as I love you and as much as I love Parker, it still makes me a little jealous to know that she shares something with you that I don't."

He reached up and ran a finger down her cheek until it rested under her chin. "Bones, what I had with Rebecca was over a long time ago."

"I know that."

"Do you know that even in our best times, what I had with Rebecca can't hold a candle to what I have with you on our worst days?"

"But she gave you Parker," she said.

"And you give me a reason to get up in the mornings and a reason to keep fighting this battle even when it feels like we're losing," he stated.

She looked at him for a long moment, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, before a small smile finally broke through. "So I'm being silly?"

"Not silly," he replied with a wide grim. "Besides, I think it's kind of sexy that you're jealous."

"I don't think jealousy is something to be considered sexy," she replied as she stepped out of his embrace.

"Then you haven't taken a good look in the mirror when you're being all jealous," he replied. "Because you look really hot right now."

She laughed at that and gave him a nudge in the direction of the door. "Come on, Booth. If we don't leave now, one of us might decide to follow that train of thought with some action and we'll miss Parker's play."

"Definitely not a good idea to miss Parker's play," he agreed as he opened the door for her. He waited until she had stepped through before following her with a hand on the small of her back. As he pulled the door closed behind them, he couldn't help but add, "We might have to go out for coffee with Rebecca and Brent after the play just so I can get you all worked up again and be able to take advantage of it."

"You are so bad, Booth," she said with a laugh.

"And you love that about me," he reminded her as he reached for her hand.

"Without a doubt," she agreed, suddenly feeling much better about the upcoming evening.

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_Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. It will give me something to look forward to about coming home from vacation. _


	11. Quickie

_Thank you to everyone who has sent reviews. I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to respond to all of you individually, but please know that I truly appreciate all of your kind words. Enough from me though, on with the story._

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"Quickie"

"Are you ready?" Brennan called as she stepped through the door adjoining their hotel rooms. "We're supposed to meet the sheriff downstairs in ten minutes."

They were on a case in rural North Carolina, the remains of a twenty-two year old man having been discovered during the construction of a new church building. So far, his identity remained a mystery, as did much of everything going on in the small town. They were definitely outsiders here and the frustration of the last week was starting to grate on her nerves.

Booth walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist. "Give me five minutes," he told her as he made his way to his suitcase. "I had to get the grime off of me from our trek out in the country this morning."

Brennan's breath caught in her throat as she watched a trail of water make its way down his chest to disappear in the soft white cotton around his waist. She was instantly aroused, her body reminding her that they hadn't had sex in over a week. When he dropped his towel on the bed to pull on a pair of boxers, she couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips.

Booth looked up at the sound, the boxers in his hand forgotten when he saw the look in her eyes. He took a step towards her and she finally lifted her eyes to his face. Seeing her desire reflected back in his gaze, she found herself drawn to him. Before she even realized that she had moved, she was in his arms, her lips meeting his as her hands trailed across his chest and around to his back, pulling him against her, desperate to feel his hardness against her...inside of her.

She felt herself being propelled backwards as his strong arms wrapped around her, his lips claiming hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth. When she felt the wall at her back, his arms left her to make quick work of the button and zipper on her pants. He pushed them off of her hips, making sure to take her panties with them. As she kicked off a shoe and managed to get one leg free from the confines of her clothes, he pushed her shirt up far enough to open the clasp on her bra and expose her breasts to his hungry mouth.

She could feel his hardness against her thigh and she lowered her hand to stroke him, desperate to feel him. He moaned against her breast as he sucked a nipple into his mouth, his hands moving to squeeze her ass as he thrust into her hand. It had been way too long since they had been together.

She felt one of his hands slide around to dip into her and heard his gasp of appreciation as he lifted his head to look at her. "You're so wet."

"Only for you."

He smiled at that, his lips claiming hers again as he slid his hand lower to lift her leg, opening her to him. She guided him to her opening and then leaned her head against the wall as he slid all the way into her.

"Yes," she hissed as he buried himself to the hilt.

He pulled almost completely out of her before slamming back into her, setting a fast pace that had them both racing towards completion.

"You feel so good, Temperance," he whispered as his lips trailed across her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, her fingers digging into his ass as he pumped into her. He shifted slightly for better leverage and she gasped at the sensation. "Oh yes, Booth. Right there."

He continued his movements against her, their breathing becoming more erratic as their hands stroked and caressed each other, driving them both towards orgasm. Booth felt his impending climax and changed his pace, desperate for release, but not wanting to leave her behind. She recognized what he was doing and raised a hand to his face, lifting his gaze to hers. When their eyes locked, she smiled at him. "It's okay, Booth," she assured him. "I'm right behind you."

He nodded his agreement as he once again increased his pace. It only took a couple of more strokes before she felt his body tighten and then he went rigid, his release coming in waves as he pushed into her, his body holding her tight against the wall. She felt her own climax wash over her then and was grateful that he was supporting their weight.

It was several long moments later when he lifted his head from her shoulder and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "That was amazing, Bones."

She returned his kiss and then smiled as she shifted in his arms. "We're going to be late, Booth."

He took a step away from her, his body already mourning the loss of contact. "We can think up a good excuse in the elevator," he replied as he watched her refasten her bra and pull her shirt back into place.

"You don't think we should tell him we took time for a quickie against the hotel wall?" she teased.

"Probably not a good idea," he replied. "Although I'm not opposed to doing it again."

"Me either," she agreed. Seeing his eyes darken as he met her gaze, she bent over and pulled her pants and panties the rest of the way off and headed back to her own hotel room. "Get dressed, Booth. I'm going to get cleaned up real quick and redress."

He watched as she beat a hasty retreat and couldn't help but smile. He allowed his thoughts to drift as he cleaned himself up and got dressed. As much as he loved it when they took their time with their lovemaking, there was just something amazing about watching her get so turned on that she had to have him right then.

Hearing her walk back into his room, he lifted his gaze with a soft smile. "All ready?"

She nodded her agreement and he walked across the room to join her. Before he opened the door, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Thanks, Bones."

She returned the squeeze and flashed him a bright smile. "Back to work, Booth."

He winked at her before he dropped her hand and opened the door for her to proceed him into the hallway. "We'll tell him we got a phone call from the Jeffersonian," she stated as they made their way towards the elevator.

"Let me guess," he said as he pressed the call button to summon the elevator. "Hodgins needs another dirt sample from the construction site?"

"Sounds good enough to me," she agreed.

"As long as we've got our stories straight," he replied as they stepped into the empty car and headed down to meet the less-than-helpful sheriff.

_

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_Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. I love reviews._


	12. The New House

_This chapter jumps ahead a couple of years in their relationship. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

"The New House"

The room was dark except for the dim light streaming through the open blind. An empty pizza box and wineglasses had been left carelessly on the coffee table. Several boxes were strewn across the room, some of them open with their contents spilling out, some of them still sealed and a few of them empty and stacked against the wall. Soft laughter resonated from the bedroom, interspersed with an occasional sigh or moan.

As the moonlight filtered through the window, a lone figure emerged from the hallway. "I'll be back in a minute," he called over his shoulder.

"I'm timing you, Booth," a voice called out.

"I don't doubt it, Bones," he replied as he made his way to the front door, double checking the locks before moving to the open blind. As the light bounced off of his bare chest, he couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped. They had probably given their new neighbors quite a show earlier before he'd thrown Tempe over his shoulder and carried her off to bed.

He closed the blind and then moved to pick up the pizza box and wineglasses.

"Leave the mess until morning," Brennan called. "Come back to bed."

"I've still got thirty seconds," he replied even as he smiled. There was a time when she would have insisted on cleaning up their mess before they could settle in for the night. Their first night in their new house was obviously not one of those times.

As he deposited the remains of their dinner in the kitchen, she called out to him again. "Ten seconds, Booth."

"If I'm late, are you going to spank me?" he called back as he made his way down the hall to the bedroom.

"Only if you let me handcuff you to the bed first," she replied as she stepped into the hallway to meet him.

His eyes drank in the sight of her standing before him wearing only his discarded dress shirt. Her hair was in disarray from their lovemaking, her lips still slightly swollen from his kisses. The shirt hung loosely on her figure, not a single button done up to deny him access to her gorgeous body.

Instead of answering her, he took hold of the tails of her shirt and pulled her closer. "You are an amazing woman, Temperance Brennan."

She smiled as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. "I think you're pretty amazing too, Seeley Booth."

He slid his hands inside of her shirt, pushing it open as his hands slid around her body and pulled her flush against him. "You're only saying that because you want to get me back into bed," he teased.

"I don't need a bed," she replied as she brought one hand down to cup him through his boxers. "In fact, I'm pretty sure there are several rooms in the house that we have yet to christen."

"Is your plan to get them all tonight?" he asked as he leaned forward to nuzzle her neck.

Her hand slid up his length, eliciting a hiss from him. "We don't have to get them all tonight," she replied. "But I plan on us getting all of them before we have to go back to work on Monday."

"Is this hallway next on your list?" he asked as he backed her up so she was pressed against the wall.

"I was thinking more along the lines of the bathroom," she replied as she slid her hands around to his ass and pulled him hard against her.

He kissed his way to her lips, lingering there as they gently rocked against each other. They tasted each other at a leisurely pace, neither of them in a hurry to get beyond their foreplay. It had taken them quite a while to get to the place where they were ready to commit to each other to the point of buying a house together and now that they had finally moved in, they wanted to savor each new experience.

When they finally broke off the kiss, Booth's voice was slightly husky. "If you really want to do this in the bathroom and not here against this wall, we should probably change venues."

She nodded and leaned in for another kiss, this one more intense than the previous one. "Or we could just start with this hallway," she suggested.

He pulled away from her with a laugh and reached for her hand. "Come on pretty lady," he said as he gave her a gentle tug. "Let's go try out that great big tub you insisted we had to have."

"You're going to love the tub," she assured him as she followed him willingly.

He was quite certain of that, since he already loved everything about being with her in their new house. She might not be a believer in marriage, but he had already gotten more from their relationship than he'd ever dared to let himself dream.

_

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_Thanks for reading. Now, if you wouldn't mind, go ahead and review it too. I love reviews._


	13. The Proposal

_I'm sorry for the delay in posting on this one. I got a little sidetracked by "G-String Man." Thanks for your patience._

* * *

"The Proposal"

Brennan smiled softly at the bundled up little boy in her arms as she sat down on the couch with him. "I can't believe how much he's grown already, Angela."

"He's already gained two pounds," Angela replied as she settled on the opposite end of the couch in her best friend's office.

Brennan settled him on her lap and began to carefully unwrap him from his blankets. "Are you getting any sleep?"

"He's only waking us up twice a night now," Angela replied as she reached for the blanket and placed it in his carrier. "I'm hopeful that within the next couple of weeks that will be down to once a night."

As Brennan shifted the small bundle up to her shoulder and softly bounced him, Angela couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "What?" Brennan asked when she finally noticed.

"Nothing," Angela replied. "I was just thinking that you look pretty natural doing that."

"Please don't start with that," Brennan replied. "I've told you a thousand times that I don't want any children of my own. That doesn't mean that I can't enjoy doting on yours and Jack's though."

"I thought Booth would've changed your mind on that by now," Angela replied. "After all, he did talk you into buying a house together."

"There was no talking me into it," Brennan corrected her. "We were already living together and it just made sense for us to buy something a little bigger. It's not like he had to twist my arm or something."

Angela held up her hands in surrender, but couldn't help another soft chuckle at the exasperated look on Brennan's face. Deciding to tease her just a bit more, she said, "So has he proposed yet?"

Angela wasn't sure what she was expecting for an answer, but the thoughtful look that crossed her best friend's face was definitely not it. "Sweetie, what is it?"

Brennan looked over at the office door to make sure that it was closed and they were still alone before she met Angela's gaze. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, Bren. You know that."

"Why did you agree to marry Jack?"

Angela was once again caught off guard by Brennan's response, but it didn't take her long to recover. "I guess I finally realized that he wasn't trying to change me or make me into something that I'm not. He just wanted to love me and to be with me. Once I realized that, it was easy to say yes to him. Why?"

Brennan was quiet for a long moment and Angela wasn't sure she was going to respond. When she finally did, her answer nearly blew her away. "I've been thinking that I would like to marry Booth."

Angela's squeal of delight startled the baby in Brennan's arms and it took a couple of minutes to get him settled back down. Once he was softly cooing again, Angela bombarded Brennan with questions. "Has he proposed? Have you set a date? Have you told him?"

"Slow down, Ang."

"I'm sorry. I'm just so excited for you."

Brennan shifted the baby in her arms again, avoiding meeting Angela's eyes. "I'm not sure if he wants to get married."

"You're kidding, right?" Angela asked, her disbelief evident on her face. "We are still talking about Seeley Booth, right? The same man who has been head-over-heels in love with you for five years now?"

"He's never even brought up the subject of marriage, Angela."

Angela saw the fear in Brennan's eyes when they finally met hers and couldn't help but feel empathy towards her. "Bren, honey, trust me, that man would walk on water for you."

"Then why hasn't he asked me to marry him?" Brennan replied. "I mean, we've been living together for over two years now. We've even bought a house together. I think it's pretty evident that I'm completely committed to him."

"And have you ever even mentioned to him that you might like to talk about marriage?" Angela asked.

Brennan was quiet for a moment, mentally going over conversations in her mind. Finally, she gave a shake of her head and a sigh. "No, I guess not."

"And are you the same woman who once told this man that marriage was an antiquated custom and not something that you would ever partake in?" At Brennan's nod of agreement, she added, "So if you expect him to love you for you and not to try to change you, wouldn't a proposal of marriage be completely out of the question?"

Brennan once again nodded her agreement. "I guess I see your point."

"So maybe you should bring up the subject with him," Angela suggested. "I imagine that it wouldn't take your hot FBI guy very long to drop to a knee and ask the question."

"Maybe I should just do the asking," Brennan replied flippantly. "It would probably be a lot easier than trying to figure out how to broach the subject with him."

Angela smiled at the mental picture that conjured. "Do you mind if I ask what's changed your mind about the whole marriage thing?"

Brennan shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure, really. Actually, I'm not entirely sure that I've completely changed my mind on the subject."

"But?"

"But I see how happy you and Jack are together. And I know Russ and Amy are happy together. And I know how much it would mean to Booth, and I'm so crazy about him that I don't know...I just want to give him this...I think."

"It sounds like you've been thinking about this for a while."

"I have."

"So talk to Booth about it," Angela said.

Brennan reached out and squeezed Angela's hand. "Thanks, Ang."

"Anytime, sweetie."

"So tell me more about this wonderful little guy," Brennan said as they settled back to talk about the baby.

"I just picked up his pictures that we had taken on his one-month birthday," Angela said as she reached into her purse and pulled out the pictures to show Brennan.

XOXOXOXO

Booth walked into the house and sniffed the air appreciatively. Something smelled wonderful. He kicked his shoes off by the door and sat his briefcase on the hall table before he headed through the house. "Bones, are you cooking?" he called out.

"I'm in the kitchen," she replied.

"It smells great," he said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Thanks," she replied as she looked over her shoulder at him. "It's going to be about 15 more minutes if you want to go change."

He walked over behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hello."

She leaned into his embrace with a smile. "Hi."

"I wasn't expecting you home this early," he said as he nuzzled the side of her neck.

"Angela brought the baby in this afternoon," she replied. "So since I'd already stopped working to visit with them, I decided to go ahead and call it a day."

"Remind me to thank Angela the next time I see her," he teased. "It's not often that I can get you to myself on Friday night before 6."

She swatted him softly on the shoulder before turning so she was facing him. "How was your day?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"It's getting better by the moment," he replied as he leaned down for a kiss.

She returned his kiss eagerly, her fingers threading into his hair and pulling him closer as her lips opened in invitation beneath his. His tongue darted out to tease hers before he slowly eased them both back. "Not that I'm complaining," he said. "But if you keep kissing me like that, dinner is going to burn."

She waggled her eyebrows at him even as she took a step back. "Go change clothes then and stop tempting me."

He smiled at her before placing a soft kiss on her nose and heading out of the kitchen. While he was changing, Brennan set the table and poured them both a glass of wine. When he finally returned to the kitchen, she was setting dinner on the table.

She paused long enough to admire the way the faded blue jeans hugged his ass before turning back to the stove for the rolls. "Did you talk to Rebecca today?" she asked.

"She called on my way home," he replied as he moved over to help her. "She said Parker's still running a fever so she's going to keep him this weekend and let us have him next weekend instead."

"Has she taken him to the doctor yet?" Brennan asked as they both took their seats at the table.

"Tonsillitis according to Rebecca," Booth replied. "He's on antibiotics now and they're hopeful that will clear it up."

"I'm sorry that you're not going to get to spend time with him this weekend."

"It happens," he replied with a shrug. "I'm not thrilled about it, but I don't see any reason to drag him here just to tuck him into a different bed to sleep until he feels better. Besides, Rebecca is much better at dealing with him when he's sick than I am."

"That's not entirely true," she chided him. "I've seen you with him when he hasn't felt well. You're a great father, Booth."

He blushed slightly under her praise. "Thanks, Bones."

The conversation turned to Angela and the new baby as they ate their dinner and Booth laughed with her as she retold stories of Jack learning how to change a diaper and bathe the newborn.

As they cleared the table and placed the dishes in the dishwasher, Booth couldn't help but laugh at the excitement in her voice as she talked about how little Jason had smiled at her while she'd held him earlier. With a teasing grin on his face, he pulled her into his arms and said, "You know, Bones, if you ever change your mind about wanting one of your own, you just let me know and we'll work on it."

He expected her to tense in his arms at the mention of them having children, instead she smiled at him and returned his embrace. "I don't think I'm going to change my mind on that one anytime soon, Booth. But it's nice to know you're leaving the door open...just in case."

"I like to leave doors open," he replied as he leaned down to brush his lips across hers.

She returned his kiss briefly and then turned in his arms and leaned back against his chest. "Speaking of leaving doors open and me changing my mind on things..."

"You're not reconsidering the color of the bathroom again, are you?" he asked with a slight groan.

"Not this time," she replied. "I think I really like the pale blue."

"Then what else are you reconsidering?" he asked as he leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder.

She looked down at where their joined hands rested on her stomach before lifting one to her lips. She placed a soft kiss on the back of his hand and then turned back around to face him. "Will you marry me?"

His eyes went wide and his chin dropped to his chest as he stared at her, not quite believing his own ears. "What did you just say?"

"I asked if you would marry me."

"Are you serious?" he asked, his thoughts chasing each other around in his head, trying to grasp the concept that the woman of his dreams had just proposed to him.

"Yes," she replied softly, suddenly very unsure of herself. "Unless you don't want to," she added. "In which case we can pretend this conversation never happened."

"I thought you...I thought...marriage and you...are you sure?" he stuttered.

Her gaze locked with his and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. "I love you Seeley Booth, and yes, I very much want to marry you."

"Yes," he replied.

"Yes?"

"Yes."

They stood there smiling at each other for several seconds before Booth finally let out a loud whoop and swung her around in his arms. "I love you, Temperance Brennan."

When he finally set her down, he placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Don't move. Wait right here."

"Where are you going?" she called out as he ran out of the kitchen.

"I'll be right back," he called back from the direction of their bedroom.

He frantically searched through the closet until he found the box he was looking for. As he pulled the lid off it, he sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward and then pulled the smaller box from inside of it and ran back into the kitchen.

Brennan was still standing where he'd left her and he skidded to a stop in front of her. "Sorry about that."

"What was so important..." she started to ask but her voice trailed off as he held the small velvet box out to her.

He opened it and her breath came out in a gasp as she saw the beautiful diamond and emerald ring nestled inside. "Booth?"

"I was afraid to let myself dream that this day would ever come," he confessed. "But I wanted to be prepared, just in case."

"It's beautiful," she replied.

He shrugged as he pulled the ring from the box and lifted her hand. As he slid the ring onto her finger, he met her gaze. "Now it's beautiful. Before, it was just a piece of metal."

"How long?" she asked as she dropped her gaze to the ring now resting securely on her finger.

"Truth?"

"Always," she replied as her gaze met his again.

"I bought it the week after the Cherry Blossom Festival," he confessed.

Her eyes grew wide at his admission. "Booth, that was our second date."

"And I knew then that I was yours for as long as you'd have me," he replied.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down for a kiss. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

They shared another kiss, this one much more passionate. Just as he started to lead them in the direction of the bedroom, she broke away from him. "How long do we have to wait?"

"What?" he asked, his desire-clouded mind trying desperately to keep up with her.

"How long until we can get married?" she asked.

"Well, weddings generally take a little time to plan," he replied. "Unless you're thinking of eloping."

"Like flying to Vegas and just doing it?" she asked.

"That's one way, yes," he agreed.

"You call the airline and I'll start packing."

He grabbed her hand before she could get away from him. "Slow down, Bones. We don't have to do this tonight."

"I don't want to wait any longer than we have to," she replied.

"Okay," he replied. "I can live with that. But instead of flying off to Vegas, why don't we just make arrangements for a Justice of the Peace to marry us here in D.C.? That way, Angela and the rest of your friends can be there and Parker and Russ and your father can all be a part of it and nobody will feel like we cheated them out of a very important part of our lives."

She nodded as she thought about his words. "I hadn't thought of that. I'm sure Angela would be pretty upset with me if I let you drag me off to Vegas for a quickie wedding."

Booth laughed as he pulled her back into his arms. "And I'm certain that's exactly how the story would play out and since I really don't want to be on Angela's bad side for the rest of my life, let's wait a week or two and do this with our friends and family around."

"And what should we do tonight?" she asked as she traced a finger down the side of his neck.

"I don't know about you," he replied softly, "But I would really like to see you in our bed wearing nothing but that ring."

"Are you going to go all Alpha Male on me?" she teased as she turned and started towards the bedroom.

"You'd better believe it," he replied as he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. "You've just made me the happiest man on the planet and I intend to show you how much I love you for it."

She giggled as she swatted his ass. "I can't wait."

XOXOXOXO

_I like to think that Brennan would have to be the one to bring up the subject of marriage since she's made it pretty clear what she thinks of it. I went with the idea that Booth was content with whatever she was willing to give him, knowing that they were as committed to each other as they could possibly be anyway. _

_Thoughts?_


	14. Missing You

_Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a review for this story. I appreciate each and every one of them._

_This chapter is for midad. Thanks for encouraging me to write it._

* * *

"Missing You"

Brennan reached for her ringing cell phone as she pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. She smiled when she saw Booth's name and quickly lifted it to her ear. "Hey there."

"Hey yourself," he replied. "Are you busy?"

"I just pulled into the parking lot at the restaurant," she replied as she maneuvered her rental car into a parking spot and turned off the ignition. "I'm meeting Professor Martin and one of the other faculty members for dinner. I've got a couple of minutes to talk though. How are you?"

"Lonely," he replied with a sigh. "How about yourself?"

"Doing this guest lecture has definitely been an educational experience," she replied. "I shouldn't have agreed to an entire week though. Not without making sure you could come with me."

"I like coming with you," he teased.

Brennan smiled at his play on words. This was the longest they had been separated since they'd started having sex and it was comforting to know that she wasn't the only one missing the intimacy they shared. Deciding to tease him back, she replied, "I like it when you come with me, too. Especially when you're buried deep inside of me and I can feel you all around me."

Booth groaned into the phone. "You're killing me, Bones."

Brennan saw her colleagues enter the restaurant and sighed in disappointment. "As much as I would love to continue this train of thought, Booth, I have to go."

"Will you call me later?" he asked.

She grinned and decided to tease him just a bit more. "Will you be up?"

"That's pretty much a given," he replied. "Have a nice dinner."

"I'll talk to you later, Booth. I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

Brennan disconnected the call and dropped her phone into her purse. It still amazed her how easily a simple phone conversation with Booth could get her aroused. She smiled as she got out of the car and headed into the restaurant. Maybe she'd surprise him when she called him back later and tell him exactly what she wanted to do to him when she got home.

XOXOXOXOXO

Booth stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. After his conversation with Bones earlier, he'd decided to go to the gym and get in a good workout. Unfortunately, it had done nothing to alleviate his frustration. It was weird how he had gone for nearly two years without sex before he and Bones had finally crossed that line, but she had only been gone for four days and he was ready to climb the walls. And while the sex between them was absolutely amazing, it wasn't just the sex that he missed. She truly was his best friend and he missed the companionship they shared.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and ran a comb through his hair before brushing his teeth. He had considered driving down to Georgia to surprise her, but his caseload this week hadn't afforded him the opportunity, so he'd been forced to settle for the occasional phone call interspersed with e-mails and text messages. He smiled as he turned off the bathroom light and stepped into his bedroom. Sometimes when he dealt with Bones, he forgot how good of a writer she was. She had reminded him on more than one occasion in the last couple of days with the explicitness of her e-mails.

A quick glance at the clock on the bedside table confirmed that it was nearly ten o'clock. He knew that dinner with colleagues could make for a long night for Bones, but she had said she would call so he knew she would. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers. Before he could pull them on, though, his cell phone rang. He dropped the boxers to the floor and snatched up his cell phone.

"Booth."

"Are you alone?" Brennan asked.

Booth smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at home. In my bedroom. Where are you?"

"I'm in my hotel room. What are you wearing?"

Booth raised his eyebrow. Was she really going there? "A towel," he replied after a slight pause. "I just got out of the shower."

"There's a nice visual image," she said. "What did you do this evening?"

Booth shook his head. Of course she was just teasing him. He shifted so he was leaning against the headboard before he replied. "After I talked to you earlier, I went to the gym for a while. I had a good workout and then came home for a shower. How was your dinner?"

"The food was excellent," she replied. "The conversation was stimulating, but the company wasn't up to par for my usual dinner companionship."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Do you know what I'd really like right now?" she asked.

"A big bowl of chocolate mousse?" he offered.

"Only if you're going to spread it across your chest and let me lick it off," came her response.

Booth swallowed hard. "Bones?"

"What I'd really like right now is to be there with you, Booth."

"I'd like that, too," he replied.

"Would you like me to kiss you, Booth?"

Booth closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headboard. She was trying to kill him. When he didn't answer her right away, she continued. "I'd like to kiss you, Booth. I'd like to run my fingers through your hair and pull your mouth down to mine so I could run my tongue across your lips. Then I'd like to suck your bottom lip into my mouth and suck on it until I felt your hands move to my head to hold me steady. But I wouldn't let you, not yet. I'd move my lips across your jaw and up to your ear, biting down on your earlobe just enough to make you make that noise that I love so much."

Boot felt his heart start racing as her words washed over him and as he imagined her doing exactly what she was describing, he let out a strangled moan.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again. "That's the one I'm talking about, Booth. Do you know what that sound does to me?"

He finally found his voice. "Yes."

"Tell me," she prompted.

"It makes you wet," he replied.

"Very wet," she corrected him. "Like I am now."

Booth took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he felt the rest of his blood rush to his groin. "What are you wearing, Bones?"

"What do you want me to be wearing?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "I want to see you naked, spread out on the bed, ready for me."

There was a slight rustling of clothing before she spoke again. "Do you want me on my back, Booth? My legs open, waiting for you? Or do you want to take me from behind? Would you like me on my hands and knees, looking back over my shoulder, begging you to fill me up?"

Booth groaned and slid his hand down to rub his throbbing erection through the towel. "I want to taste you."

"Me first," she replied. "Take off your towel."

Booth did as instructed and then shifted again on the bed. "I'm not sure I can handle your mouth on me tonight, Bones. I'm so hard for you already that I might explode if you take me into your mouth."

"Are you lying down?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Close your eyes, Booth. Imagine me there with you. I straddle your hips, shifting so you can feel how wet I am for you. I don't take you inside of me though, not yet. I want to touch you first, so I reach out my hands and run them over your chest, flicking my nails across your nipples. I can feel your hands on my hips, trying to move me enough to give you some relief, but I'm feeling a little feisty tonight, so I grab your hands and lift them over your head. The movement brings my breasts to your mouth and I know you won't resist. I can feel your hot mouth sucking on a nipple and the sensation makes me moan."

Booth groaned as he imagined her above him, her hands holding his to the mattress and her breasts swaying in front of his face. "I love the sound you make when I suck on your nipples," he told her. "I think I could spend hours doing nothing but pleasuring your breasts with my mouth."

"Do you think you could make me come like that, Booth?" she asked.

"I'd like to make you come anyway you want," he replied. "But I want to touch you now, please."

"Not yet," she replied. "I haven't gotten to trail my hands down your stomach and feel the muscles clench under my touch. I hate to leave your mouth, but I do. I release your hands and move to trail mine all the way down your arms to your chest. I tease your nipples once more before moving lower, feeling the powerful muscles quiver under my touch."

"Please, Bones," he whispered.

"Wrap your hand around your dick, Booth," she instructed him. "Tell me how hard you are."

Booth wrapped his hand around himself and groaned. "I'm not going to last long inside of you, Bones. I'm so close already that when you finally take me inside your body, I'm going to explode."

"Do you want that?" she asked. "Do you want to explode inside of me?"

"God, yes," he replied, his movements on his dick growing faster.

As if sensing his nearness, she spoke again. "Slow down for me, Booth. I want to feel you inside of me."

Booth took a deep breath and slowed the movement of his hand. "I've played your game as long as I can, Bones. I move my hands back to your hips and lift you just enough to slide into you." He heard her moan across the phone line and had to still his hand to keep from exploding right then. "Touch yourself for me, Bones. Touch yourself while I watch, buried deep inside of you, but refusing to move while I try to get a little bit of control back."

"I'm so wet for you, Booth," she replied. "I love the way you feel inside of me, filling me, stretching me. You're so hard, Booth. It makes me crazy."

"Are you touching yourself?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I'm so close, Booth. Please move inside of me."

Booth started stroking his dick again, taking up the conversation where she'd left off. "I lift your hips slightly while I lower mine and then I bring us back together forcefully. I repeat the movement again and this time you help, driving your hips down into mine, fusing our bodies together."

"I slide my fingers against my clit, rubbing it hard while we find our rhythm. It doesn't take long and I'm exploding around you, my body tightening as I call out your name."

He heard her gasp and call out his name and he groaned as he felt his own climax overtake him. "Yes, Bones!" he called out as he came.

It was a couple of minutes later before he heard her voice again. "Are you still with me?"

"Yeah," he replied. "That was pretty intense."

"For me, too."

Booth sighed and reached for his discarded towel to clean himself up. "I have a confession to make."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I've never done that before," he admitted.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. "Well, for a phone sex virgin, you were very good."

"I miss you, Bones."

"I miss you, too, Booth. But it's just a few more days."

"And nights."

"And nights," she agreed. "But just think, if phone sex is this good, the real thing will be even better when I get home."

"I'm counting on that," he replied. "So what's your schedule like tomorrow?"

"I have three sessions tomorrow," she informed him. "One in the morning, two in the afternoon, and a department luncheon that they've asked me to attend. How about you?"

"I have a department meeting in the morning and several piles of paperwork waiting for me for the rest of the day. Then I'm supposed to pick Parker up tomorrow after school and we're going to go have dinner and see an early movie."

"That sounds like a nice evening."

"He was disappointed when he found out you wouldn't be joining us this time," Booth told her.

"Tell him I'll make it up to him when I get home," she replied. "But it'll be good for you two to have some guy time together."

"I'll tell him," he assured her. Hearing her yawn in the phone, he chuckled. "You should get some sleep, Bones."

"I'll be dreaming about you, Booth."

"I'll be dreaming about you, too."

"Goodnight, Booth."

"Goodnight, Bones."

Booth closed his phone and set it on his bedside table. He picked up his towel and carried it back to the bathroom, dropping it into the laundry basket before returning to find his boxers and pull them on. He settled into bed and leaned back with a smile on his face. She was just full of surprises. He couldn't wait for the next one.

_

* * *

_

Your turn...hit the button and let me know what you think. Or if you'd like to see something in one of these chapters, let me know and I'll see what I can do.


	15. The Game

_I haven't forgotten about this story. I've just been very busy at work and not had a lot of time for writing the last couple of weeks. My apologies for the delay._

* * *

"The Game"

Brennan settled back in her lawn chair with a contented sigh as she watched Booth's team take the field. He had invited her to watch the annual FBI-Police Academy softball game and she had accepted with only minor trepidation. She wasn't sure how well Booth's colleagues would accept her at a social function, but so far, she had been pleasantly surprised.

They had arrived at the park thirty minutes early, but most of the team was already present and starting to warm up. Booth had slung their gear over one shoulder and then casually draped his other arm around her shoulders and led her to the softball diamond. He had endured some good-natured teasing about finally bringing a date to the game, but other than that, nobody even mentioned their relationship. "See, I told you it would be fine," he had whispered as he'd pulled her against his side.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she had replied as she watched him unfold the lawn chair and set it up for her.

He had flashed her a brilliant smile and then leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss to her lips before setting about changing his shoes and preparing for the game. She had paid him little attention as he stretched his muscles and then partnered up with another agent to throw the softball to get loose. Instead, she had used the time to take in her surroundings. There were several families scattered along the first base fence where the FBI team had taken the dugout. She recognized a couple of the faces from her trips to the Hoover building and when they looked her way, she made sure to wave in greeting. It wasn't long before she found herself being drawn into the activities of the afternoon and she had relaxed and actually enjoyed meeting the families of the agents that were present.

When the FBI team took the field for infield practice, many of the families sought out seats to watch the game. Brennan was surprised to notice that several of the older kids offered to take the younger ones to the playground, but she decided that the group must spend a lot of time together, much like her own makeshift family at the Jeffersonian. She had made her way back to her lawn chair and settled in to watch the game and was only slightly surprised to find several other women had also set their chairs up alongside hers. She smiled at the ones she knew and made sure to introduce herself to the others.

"So you're the lucky woman who finally snagged Booth's attention?" one of the women, Tina, asked with a smile.

Brennan debated how to answer that, but was saved by one of the other women, Marie, who piped in. "Leave her alone, Tina. Dr. Brennan is here with Agent Booth and we want to make her feel welcome, not interrogate her."

"Sorry," Tina offered. "It's just that Booth has never even brought a date to one of these things before."

"It's okay," Brennan replied. "I understand the curiosity. And to answer your question, yes, I am the one lucky enough to have snagged his attention."

"He's a good agent," one of the other women joined in.

"He's a good man," Brennan couldn't help but correct her.

"That, too," the other woman agreed.

When nobody else seemed to want to pry into her personal life, Brennan relaxed and turned her attention to the game. Booth was playing shortstop for the FBI team, and she couldn't help but admire how sexy his ass looked in the baseball pants he was wearing. Not to mention the way his t-shirt stretched across his chest and accented the well-defined muscles beneath it. She watched as he fielded a ground ball and threw it the first baseman and she couldn't help but smile when the ball easily hit its target.

It was only a couple of minutes later when the coach of the FBI team headed back to the dugout and the umpire called for a batter, signifying the start of the game. The first inning had gone by rather quickly with each team making three quick outs. During the top of the second, the Police Academy team had managed to get two hits, but they had failed to score any runs. As the FBI team headed in for their turn at bat, Tina looked over to Brennan with a smile. "Booth is leading off this inning."

"Is he a good hitter?" Brennan asked. "I've never actually seen him play before."

"He's one of the best on the team," Tina replied. "Last year, he got three hits in the game."

Brennan smiled in appreciation of the information and then joined her voice with the other fans as they cheered for him to get a hit. She watched as the ball came towards him and jumped to her feet to cheer when he made contact with it. The ball flew over the center fielder's head and Booth quickly rounded first base, reaching second base easily. The group she was sitting with all cheered loudly, and Booth looked in their direction with a grin on his face. When his eyes locked with Brennan's, he gave her a wink before turning his attention back to the game.

Brennan couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she sat back down in her chair. Even from across a softball field, the man had the ability to get her blood boiling with just a look. Apparently, the look on her face must have given her away because she found her attention being drawn back to her companions by their laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked as she turned first to Tina and then Marie.

"Nothing," Marie replied. "It's just that, well, I hope you won't be offended by this, but your man is hot...and the look he just gave you, well, let's just say it was pretty scorching."

Brennan felt herself blush, but she couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, he is pretty sexy in that uniform, isn't he?"

"I'm fairly certain that our husbands expect us not to notice," Tina informed her.

"Like that's even possible," Marie argued. Turning to Brennan, she added, "To be honest, watching Booth run the bases is one of the highlights of this yearly event."

Brennan couldn't help but laugh as she turned her attention back to the field where Booth was currently rounding third and heading towards home. He would turn three different shades of red if he had even an inkling that his colleague's wives were ogling him from the sideline. While he made it a point to stay in excellent physical condition, he did it for himself and for his job, not to draw attention to himself. Heck, he still occasionally blushed when she stopped in the midst of their lovemaking to just admire his physique. He would undoubtedly find this information unsettling.

Brennan forced her thoughts back to the game and cheered with the others as Booth crossed the plate for the first score of the game. He gave high fives to several of his teammates as he made his way to the dugout and Brennan noted with curiosity that several of the fans around her copied the action of giving high fives. Unlike when she went with Booth to one of Parker's little league games, there didn't seem to be a lot of fans yelling instructions to the players on the field and Brennan was relieved that it was a much more relaxing environment.

The game continued to be exciting, each team doing their share of scoring as well as making good defensive plays. Brennan enjoyed chatting with her new friends between plays, and cheered loudly every time Booth got up to bat, noticing with pride that he reached safely every time. When the final inning rolled around, the Police Academy managed to score two runs to tie the game and force the FBI team to take their turn at bat.

"Jenkins hasn't gotten a hit all day," Tina commented as the man who had pitched for the FBI made his way to the plate.

"All we need is one run," Marie commented. "Booth is due up fourth, so just one of them has to reach base safely to give him a chance."

"Why do you assume that Booth has to get a chance at bat?" Brennan asked. "Any of the other players is just as capable as scoring a run as Booth is."

"True," Tina agreed. "However, Booth is by far the best athlete on the team, and he's gone 4 for 4 today, so the odds are in our favor if he makes it to the plate."

"Statistically speaking," Brennan began, "The odds are actually more in favor of Jenkins reaching safely than Booth."

Both women turned to look at her as if she had just grown a second head and Brennan couldn't help but smile. "This is usually the point where Booth tells me to be quiet and just watch the game."

The women returned her smile and the crack of the bat drew their attention back to the field. All three watched with rapt attention as Jenkins sprinted down the baseline to beat out the long throw by the third baseman. Loud cheers erupted from the FBI cheering section and the next batter made his way to the plate.

Brennan watched as the batter took a swing at the first pitch and looped it over the first baseman's head. The FBI crowd roared in appreciation as he reached first base safely and Jenkins advanced to second. The next batter, Riley, watched the first three pitches. He had apparently decided that he wasn't going to swing until the umpire called a strike against him. With a 2-1 count, he hit a line drive straight back up the middle. The pitcher's quick reflexes allowed him to knock the ball down instead of getting hit by it, but it rolled out of his reach and everyone advanced safely.

Brennan watched as Booth walked to the plate. He stopped just shy of the batter's box and tightened the straps on his batting gloves as his eyes surveyed the field. Once he was ready, he stepped into the batter's box and Brennan found herself holding her breath in anticipation as the pitcher lobbed the ball towards the plate. She was surprised when it bounced five feet in front of the plate and the crowd let out a loud boo.

"Surely he isn't going to walk in the winning run," Tina commented.

"I'm sure he'd like to walk Booth," Marie replied. "He's definitely had the pitcher's number all day. But I actually think that last play rattled him a bit."

Brennan watched as the catcher and pitcher conferred on the field and then the catcher ran back to his position behind the plate. The next pitch actually crossed the plate, but it came inside and Booth had to step back to avoid getting hit. Brennan joined the crowd this time as they booed, not wanting to see Booth get hit.

Booth stepped completely out of the batter's box again and once again surveyed the field before he stepped back in. This time when the pitcher lobbed the ball over the plate, Booth's bat made contact with it. Brennan got to her feet alongside the rest of the crowd and watched as the ball soared towards left field. The left fielder ran backwards and leaped in an attempt to catch it, but it cleared the fence easily, giving Booth a grand slam home run.

The FBI cheering section began cheering wildly and Brennan joined them as she watched Booth jog easily around the bases. The Police Academy players held out their hands in congratulations as he passed them and Booth made sure to slap each of them in a show of sportsmanship. When he finally reached the plate, the entire FBI team was waiting for him and there was much cheering and congratulations as they surrounded him. After several moments of high fives and butt slapping, the two teams lined up to shake hands and then retreated to their own sides to clean up the dugouts.

Brennan folded up her chair and slid it back into its carrying case while she listened to Tina and Marie round up their children. When she saw Booth emerging from the dugout, she made her way towards him with a smile on her face. He smiled when he saw her, but before she could reach him, several people surrounded him, offering their congratulations on his game-winning home run. He thanked them all as he smiled politely and tried to maneuver out of their clutches.

She couldn't help but laugh when he finally managed to extradite himself from the crowd and reach her side. "Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize, Booth. You played a really good game and everyone just wants to express their gratitude for your efforts."

"Does that include you?" he teased with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She stepped closer until she was invading his personal space before she replied. "What did you have in mind?"

His tongue automatically slipped out to wet his lips as his gaze locked with hers. "How about a kiss for now and we can discuss ways to express your gratitude in further detail later?"

She laughed but leaned in to kiss him anyway. Instead of the gentle brushing of lips that he had anticipated, she surprised him by reaching a hand up to the back of his head and holding him to her while she trailed her tongue across his lips, gently tasting him. When he moaned into her mouth, she released him and took a step back. "That was a wonderful game, Booth."

Before he could reply, Jenkins walked over and clapped him on the back. "Dang, Booth, if I'd known that Dr. Brennan was giving away the victory kiss this year, I would've worked a little harder on my batting."

"I'm not sure it would've helped any," Booth replied good-naturedly, his gaze never leaving Brennan's.

Brennan broke their gaze to smile at Jenkins. "Don't listen to him. If you hadn't gotten on base in the last inning, they would've just walked him and then he wouldn't get to be over playing the hero."

"She's got a point, Booth," Jenkins agreed.

"Maybe," Booth replied. "But you're still going to have to find your own victory kiss somewhere else because I'm not sharing." When Brennan started to say something in protest, Booth lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "Sorry, Bones, but in case you've forgotten, your partner carries a gun and is a pretty good shot. I would hate for him to get wind of me letting someone else kiss you. He might go crazy and come after me."

Brennan merely shook her head and laughed before wrapping an arm around his waist. "Are we staying for the picnic? Tina and Marie were telling me about it earlier, but I don't recall us bringing any food for a pitch-in."

"I thought I'd see if you wanted to stay," he informed her as he placed an arm around her shoulder and led her away from the crowd. "The loser of the annual game provides the food for the following year and since this is our third straight victory, the Police Academy boys are doing the cooking. Are you interested in hanging around or would you rather head out?"

Brennan looked over to the picnic area where both teams were starting to gather and then shrugged. "I don't mind staying."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he stopped walking and looked over at her. "Because if you're not enjoying yourself, we can leave now."

"I'm sure, Booth," she assured him. "If you want to stay, we can stay."

"But?" he asked.

"But it will delay me getting to express my gratitude for a well-played game," she teased him.

He groaned softly and then leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her nose. "I'll suffer through...for the team and all that."

She turned around to face him fully and then smiled at him. "You really did play a great game, Booth."

"Thank you, Bones. I was actually, kind of, sort of, showing off a little for you."

She smiled at the slight blush that colored his face at his admission and decided to tease him just a bit more. "In that case, I can't wait to get you alone so you can show off your abilities out of this uniform."

He returned her smile and then leaned down to kiss her again before once again draping his arm around her shoulders and leading her over to the picnic.

_

* * *

__Thanks for reading. Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. Also, if anybody is interested in doing some beta reading for me, I could use one. If you're interested, please PM me._


	16. The Reward

_This is a follow-up for the last chapter, "The Game." I wasn't sure if I was going to continue it or not, but my muse decided for me and this is the result._

* * *

"The Reward"

Brennan followed Booth to the front door, her hands playfully tucked into the back pockets of his baseball pants. "I think you should wear these pants more often," she suggested.

"Why is that?" he asked as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Because you look pretty damn hot in them," she replied as she gave a gentle tug and pulled him back against her. "I like the way you wear them nice and snug and not baggy like some of the other guys today. I had a hard time keeping my mind on the game when I caught sight of your sexy ass running around the bases."

He leaned forward far enough to set his bag down inside the door and then turned to face her. "Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, using the change in his stance to squeeze his ass and pull his body closer to hers. "I kept imagining the way your muscles would flex under my hands as I held on to it while you were driving into my body."

"Is that how you plan on showing your appreciation for my well-played game?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Is that what you want?" she asked as she gave a gentle push towards the door, not wanting to lose contact with his body, but not really wanting to give his neighbors a show either.

He followed her lead and stepped back the few steps that would put them both inside of the house. Once they were safely inside, he gave the door a kick and then stepped forward until he had her pressed against it. "What I want," he replied as he pressed his hips into hers, "Is you."

"You already have me," she reminded him as she once again squeezed his ass.

He leaned down and brushed his lips gently against hers before pulling back to meet her gaze once again. "Do I?" he asked.

Her eyes locked with his and she felt the seriousness in his question. She brought her hands up to cup his face, wanting him to see in her eyes what she wasn't sure she had the words to say yet. "You do, Booth. You always have."

His eyes searched hers, seeing the truth reflected there, knowing that she had given him more of herself than she'd ever given to anyone before. A slow smile spread across his face and he once again leaned down to brush his lips across hers.

Brennan slid her hands around to the back of his neck, her fingers smoothing into his hair, holding him to her as she opened her lips to his probing tongue. She moaned into the kiss, her body arching into his, her hands moving from his hair to his shoulders and back again, loving the feel of his muscles beneath his t-shirt.

Booth slid his hands to her waist, pulling her body into his as he stepped closer to her. Pulling his lips from hers, he trailed kisses to her ear. "I want to make love to you, Bones."

She moaned as his lips suckled the smooth skin below her ear before she managed to respond. "Then you'd better stop doing that and take me to the bedroom, Booth. Otherwise, we're going to end up having sex right here against the door."

He chuckled at that and then took a step away from her. "Maybe we'll save that for later."

Instead of heading towards the bedroom, she continued to lean against the door and trailed her hands down his body. When she reached his stomach, she lifted the edge of his shirt. "Take this off for me, Booth."

He raised an eyebrow in question even as he moved to comply. "I thought we weren't going to do this up against the door."

Her hands moved back up the smooth skin of his chest, her fingers drawing lazy circles around his nipples before moving back towards his stomach. She watched the muscles contract under her gentle touch and she let out a soft sigh. Hooking a finger under the waistband of his pants, she gave a gentle tug and he willingly stepped closer to her. She made quick work of the belt buckle before unsnapping his baseball pants. As she lowered the zipper, her eyes lifted to his. "I felt like the envy of every woman there today, Booth."

"Then we're even, because I know all the men there were checking you out in those cute little shorts."

She slipped her hand inside of his pants and rubbed him through his boxers, eliciting a groan from him. "Bones, please."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back as she dipped her hand inside of his boxers, wrapping her fingers firmly around his erection. She stroked him from base to tip, circling her thumb around his head before reversing direction. When she started to repeat the action, he caught her by the wrist, stilling her movements.

Brennan lifted her eyes to his once again and the desire she saw there made her knees weak. He lifted her hand from him and brought it to his lips. "Turn around," he whispered.

He released her hand and she turned around so she was facing the door. He moved in behind her, pressing his hips into her ass as he lifted her hands and put them on the door. "You are so damn sexy, Bones," he told her as he lowered his hands to her waist, sliding them up under her shirt. When he reached the edge of her bra, he tugged on it, pulling it away from her breasts and moving it so it rested above them, giving him complete access to her breasts.

He opened his mouth against her neck, trailing his tongue from one side to the other, eliciting a soft moan from her. "You like that, don't you?" he asked as his hands moved to cup her breasts, squeezing gently before rolling her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

"Yes," she whispered as she turned her head to the side. "Your mouth on my neck feels amazing."

He kissed his way to her lips as he continued to play with her nipples. As his tongue snaked into her mouth, she thrust back against him, feeling his hardness where it rested against her ass. When he finally left her lips to move back to her neck, she moaned his name.

He smiled against her neck before sucking gently on it, not wanting to leave a mark that might cause her embarrassment at work. When she rotated her hips in retaliation, he slid his right hand down her stomach, easily sliding beneath her shorts and panties to cup her. "Is that what you want, baby?"

"More, Booth."

He slid a finger along her slit, coating it in her juices before moving up to press against her clit. "You're so wet, Bones."

"Only for you, Booth," she replied. "Nobody has ever affected me like this before."

He circled her clit several times, continuing to squeeze her nipple as he kissed her neck. When she shifted her weight to rest her head on her arms against the door, he slid his fingers down to dip them inside of her. "I love touching you like this, Bones," he said as he moved his fingers inside of her.

Her only response was a groan as he once again palmed her breast, squeezing it in time to his thrusts. When he moved his thumb back to her clit, she thrust her hips into his hand. He continued his ministrations as he once against opened his mouth against her neck. He slid his tongue along the edge of her shirt, dipping it below her collar along her spine.

As her movements against him grew more erratic, he lifted his mouth to her ear. "Are you going to come for me, baby?"

"God, yes," she breathed out in response. "Please don't stop."

Her breath came in gasps, telling him how close she was so he pressed his thumb hard against her clit, holding the pressure there as he thrust his fingers deep inside of her. He felt her body tense against his as her orgasm washed over her, pulling his name from her lips on a sigh. He continued to stroke her until she relaxed against him, a soft smile on her face.

"I can't believe you did it again, Booth," she said as she turned in his embrace, forcing his hands to lose contact with her body.

"What's that?" he asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him against her.

"Got me off without removing a single stitch of clothing," she replied as she looked down at herself.

"It's your own fault," he told her as he once again pressed his hips into her, holding her against the door with the weight of his body. "I thought we were on our way to the bedroom. You're the one who started undressing me at the door."

"I wasn't complaining," she pointed out. "Just making an observation."

He leaned in to press a heated kiss to her lips. When her lips parted beneath his, he slid his tongue into her mouth where it met and dueled with hers. When she moaned into his mouth and slid her hands around to his ass, he broke off the kiss and stepped away from her.

"Why did you stop?" she asked.

"Bedroom, Bones," he replied as he took another step away from her. "Now."

When she raised her eyebrow in challenge, he took her by the hand and gave a gentle tug. Once she was away from the door and headed in the direction of the bedroom, he swatted her gently on her ass. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. "What was that for?"

"Because I can," he replied smugly. "Now, are you going or should I go get the cuffs?"

She laughed as she reached for his hand and pulled him along behind her. "You're such a tease sometimes, Booth. Come on and maybe I'll _let _you get the cuffs later."

"That works, too," he agreed as he followed her to the bedroom. It was definitely going to be a good night.

_As always, reviews are appreciated. I love knowing that other people are enjoying the story._


	17. Holiday Plans

_This is going to be the last installment of the "Snapshots" series. I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this story and leave a review. The lack of response to the last couple of chapters makes me think that people have lost interest though, so I'm putting a complete tag on this one and calling it done._

_Also, I don't know how much time I'll have for writing in the next few months so it could be a while before I get to post anything else. And it doesn't help that one of my main inspirations isn't available anymore. :-(_

_But enough rambling. Here's the story..._

* * *

"Holiday Plans"

Brennan absent-mindedly ran her fingers through Booth's hair. She was sitting on one end of the couch and he was stretched out on the rest of it with his head resting in her lap while they enjoyed a quiet evening at home and watched a made-for-television movie. When a commercial came on, Booth rolled to his back and looked up at her.

"What are you thinking about, Bones?"

"The holidays," she replied as she lowered her gaze to his, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "Christmas especially."

"In October?" he asked. "Why?"

"Parker told me this afternoon on the ride home that he wanted a puppy for Christmas," she replied. "Apparently, one of his friends from school got a puppy for his birthday last week and Parker thinks it's the coolest thing ever."

"It's about all he's talked about this week when I've called him," Booth told her. "I'm not surprised that he's already planning on putting it on his Christmas list."

"Are we going to get him one?" she asked as she lifted her hand back to his hair to once again run her fingers through it.

His eyebrows rose in question. "Do you think we should?"

"Well, we would obviously need to discuss it with Rebecca first since it would be living at her place most of the time, but if she's in agreement, I don't see why we shouldn't."

"Really?"

"Yes. Rebecca's place has a fenced-in yard that would give the dog plenty of space to play, and we've got plenty of room here for those times when Parker is with us. Besides, he's almost ten years old, taking care of a dog will teach him responsibility."

"You've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you?" he asked.

Brennan nodded in the direction of the television. "This show lost my interest about twenty minutes into it when I figured out it was the ex-boyfriend."

Booth grinned and lifted the remote to turn off the television. "I should've realized that when you stopped shouting out warnings to the characters."

"They weren't listening anyway," she replied with a smile. After a brief pause, she added, "So what about this puppy thing?"

"I'll mention it to Rebecca tomorrow when I go by to get Parker. It will give her some time to think about it. If she agrees, we'll do it."

Brennan smiled and leaned down to brush a kiss across his forehead. "Parker will love it."

"I know."

Booth watched her as she settled back against the couch and noticed that she still seemed a bit distracted. "What else is bouncing around in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked. "You've been a bit preoccupied all evening."

She sighed as she leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling. "My dad called me earlier this afternoon. He told me that he'd like us to all get together for Thanksgiving. He's got a friend who has a place in South Florida that we can use for the weekend and dad wants us to all be there. And that includes you and Parker."

"And you don't want to go?" he asked.

She lifted her head to look down at him. "Do you?"

He shrugged. "It could be fun."

"It could be a disaster," she replied.

He laughed at that. "Bones, any family gathering has the potential to be a disaster. That's just the nature of families. It doesn't mean you avoid them completely though."

"But five days with my family, Booth?"

He rolled to a sitting position and settled himself on the couch so he was facing her. "What did your dad tell you about the place in Florida?"

"He said it's got four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a large sitting area, a finished basement that's used as a game room, an 'out of this world' kitchen, plus a privacy fence around an in ground pool."

"So there's a lot of space and it's not like we'd be tripping over each other the entire time?" he asked.

"From his description, yes," Brennan replied. "It's sounds like a very nice place."

"But?"

"But it's five days with my family, Booth. We haven't spent that much time together since before my parents disappeared when I was a teenager."

"But you have spent time with them, Bones. Things went well when we stayed with Russ and Amy last Christmas."

"But my father wasn't there then," she replied.

He took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. "Is it because your father's going to be there? Or because both your father and me are going to be there?"

"The idea is a bit intimidating, Booth," she said with a sigh. "What if he does something stupid and you have to shoot him?"

Booth let out a soft chuckle. "I promise not to shoot him, Bones."

She looked at him for a long minute before she spoke again. "Why don't you seem the least bit concerned about this?"

He shrugged. "What's there to be concerned about? Five days in southern Florida with my son, the woman I love and her family...it sounds very relaxing."

"You seriously think so?"

"Yes," he replied. "Besides, we've been promising ourselves a non-working vacation for months now. This would be a great opportunity and I'd have back up if you tried to go dig up a body or something."

"I'm pretty sure that you're the one who stumbled across the body on our last vacation."

"Minor detail," he replied. As he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, he added, "I think it could be fun, Bones. And I know it would be good for you to spend time with your family."

She smiled as she caught his hand in hers and brought it to her lips. "Okay then, I'll call my dad tomorrow and tell him to count us in."

"Good," he replied. "I'll talk to Rebecca about having Parker for the whole weekend after I bring up the puppy idea tomorrow."

Brennan looked over at the blank TV screen and then back at him. "Well, now that we've settled all of that, and we've obviously given up on the movie, how about we make it an early night and you take me to bed?"

"I like the sound of that," he agreed. "Unless you want to decide on our Halloween costumes first."

She gave a gentle shove to his shoulders, knocking him back on the couch. Before he had a chance to respond, she had moved to straddle his hips and leaned down to kiss him. "Those can wait until tomorrow," she informed him when they finally came up for air a short time later. "I've got other plans for tonight."

"I can't wait."


	18. Car Shopping

_I know that I put a complete stamp on this story a while back, but since my life has slowed down a bit in the last few days, I thought I'd add a few more chapters if that's okay with everyone._

_This one jumps ahead a few years._

* * *

"Are you sure this is the one he wants?" Rebecca asked as she and Brennan watched Booth circle around the midnight blue pickup truck.

"Positive," Booth replied as he smiled at them. "We've been talking about him getting his own car since his last birthday. This is the one he wants."

"Are we getting you a matching one?" Rebecca asked as she watched him trail his hand along the hood of the truck, his sunglasses pushed up on top of his head as he carefully inspected it for any damage.

Booth stopped his inspection and turned to glare at her. "I was actually just thinking how excited Parker is going to be."

Rebecca sighed and shook her head as she turned to Brennan. "Boys and their toys."

"You will never understand what it's like for a seventeen year old guy getting his first car," Booth shot at her.

Wanting to head off the argument that was brewing, Brennan stepped between the two. "Booth, if you're certain this is the vehicle Parker wants, why don't we go find a salesman and work out the details?"

Booth nodded his agreement before making one more trip around the truck to be sure there was no visible damage to it.

Turning to Rebecca, Brennan said, "You guys will definitely be there on Saturday for the party, right?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," she replied.

Booth walked over to join them and stopped in front of Rebecca. "Thank you for being a part of this," he said.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Now, unless you two need me for something else, I'm going to go. I told Brent that I'd pick up the twins and have dinner ready when he got home tonight."

"Not a problem," Brennan assured her. "I'm just going to sit and enjoy watching Booth scare the salesman into knocking a couple of grand off the sale price."

Booth puffed out his chest and smiled while the two women shared a laugh and a hug. "We'll see you on Saturday," Brennan told her. "Give Shelby and Travis a kiss from us."

Once Rebecca had walked away, Brennan turned to Booth with a smile. "I don't know why you still let her push your buttons like that after all this time."

He merely shrugged and pulled her into a hug. "And I don't know why she has to make an issue out of things like this. My boy is turning seventeen. Why can't she just let me enjoy it?"

Brennan wrapped her arms around his waist and decided to tease him a bit. "I can't believe I'm married to a man who is old enough to have a seventeen year old."

"Ouch," Booth replied as he pulled back to look at her.

She couldn't hold back her laughter at his look of indignation. "Come on, old man. Let's go buy our son his first truck."

Booth's expression grew serious as he lifted his hands to cup her face. "Even after all these years, it still makes my stomach do flip-flops to hear you refer to Parker as _our_ son. Do you have any idea how much I love you, Bones?"

"I hope it's somewhere close to how much I love you," she replied.

He leaned down and placed a tender kiss against her lips before releasing her. As he took her hand in his, he smiled. "Come on, Bones. Let's go buy this thing so we can go home and I can show you exactly how much I love you."

"I can't wait," she replied as they fell into step together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_As always, thanks for reading and please feel free to drop me a note letting me know what you thought._


	19. Parker's Birthday

_This chapter follows directly after the previous one. I decided that I liked the idea of an older Parker and wanted to explore it a little more._

_Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review. I truly appreciate them._

* * *

Brennan sighed as she felt Booth's lips trace across the side of her neck, slowly dragging her from a rather pleasant dream of the two of them. "Mmm, good morning," she whispered as she rolled to her back to look up at his grinning face.

"Good morning," he replied as he slid his hand across her stomach, coming tantalizing close to her breast before changing directions and smoothing back down to her hip.

Getting a whiff of coffee in the air, she smiled up at him. "How long have you been awake?"

He shrugged as he lowered his mouth back to her shoulder, finally bringing his hand up to cover one of her breasts. She sighed in pleasure as he tweaked her nipple and felt the smooth skin of his face glide along her skin. Realizing that he had not only made coffee, but had also taken the time to shave, she laughed.

Feeling her laughter bubble up, he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "What?"

"Did you even sleep last night, Booth?" she asked as she met his gaze.

"Of course I did," he replied. "Do you not recall wearing me out before I passed out beside you?"

"What time is it?" she pressed.

He gave her a sheepish grin before he replied, "It's a little after six."

"On Saturday," she pointed out. "It's just like Christmas for you. Isn't it?"

"I can't help it," he replied. "I can't wait to give Parker his gift."

"They're not supposed to deliver the truck until nine," she reminded him.

He flashed her a smile as he once again tweaked her nipple. "So you're just going to have to distract me for a couple of hours."

She laughed and then pulled his face down for a kiss. It never ceased to amaze her how excited he got about days when he got to give presents to those he loved. She had learned many years ago that he would be awake long before Parker even thought about waking up on Christmas morning. Once she had adjusted to his child-like enthusiasm, she had come to treasure their early morning lovemaking sessions as she tried to "distract" him.

Feeling him settle his weight between her legs, she knew that this morning would be no different than the others and she couldn't help but wrap her arms around him as he trailed his lips down to her neck. "I love you, Booth."

He once again lifted his eyes to hers, a soft smile playing on his lips. "I love you, too."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Parker, your breakfast is getting cold," Brennan called as she sat a plate of pancakes on the table.

"Sorry, Bones," he replied as he made his way into the kitchen, his ever-present dog trailing behind him. "I cut myself shaving and had a little trouble getting it to stop bleeding."

Brennan stepped in front of him to check the nick on his jaw, still amazed that he now stood head and shoulders above her. "It looks like you got it under control."

Parker smiled and ran a hand through his still slightly damp blonde curls. "I figured it was a special occasion and all so I should make myself presentable."

She made a show of checking his outfit, noticing once again how much he took after Booth in his structure. He was wearing a plain grey t-shirt tucked into a pair of faded blue jeans and his favorite pair of boots on his feet. "Your mother might complain that you aren't wearing a tie," she commented. "But at least you left the jeans with the holes in them in the closet for the day."

Parker smiled and shrugged. "Ties are for church and work, Bones. Not for a day spent with friends and family celebrating my birthday. Besides, she'll probably have Travis in a tie. One of us being tortured today is enough."

Brennan laughed as he sat down at the table and poured syrup on his plate of pancakes. When Rebecca had announced that she was pregnant with twins, Parker was already twelve, so he'd spent all of his teenage years with the younger kids in the house. Once he'd started high school, he had asked if he could spend more time with her and Booth. While it had caused some tension at first, Rebecca and Brent had finally agreed that Parker needed a little more space than what he was getting with the twins always underfoot and had agreed to allow him to spend more time at their house.

Brennan watched as he made his way through the stack of pancakes, only pausing long enough to snap his fingers at his dog and point to the other room. Brennan watched as the dog obediently left the kitchen and sprawled on the living room floor where he could still see Parker. "You've done a great job with Chester," she told him as she sat down across from him. The dog had become an integral part of their family when they'd given him to Parker for Christmas several years ago. The young boy had delved into the responsibility of caring for him and it had been a pleasure watching the two of them grow up together.

"Where's dad?" Parker asked between bites.

"He went outside to watch for your mom and Brent. He told them he would help with the twins once they got here."

"Do you need help with anything before they get here?" he asked as he finished off his plate of pancakes. Their tradition had become to have a private family celebration before doing anything with their friends. Since Parker had opted for a barbecue with all of his friends today, they were having their family celebration early this morning so they had plenty of time for setting up the backyard before his friends started arriving.

"No," she replied. "You just need to finish eating before they get here."

Parker placed another stack of pancakes on his plate and covered them with syrup. "These are delicious as always," he said before filling his mouth once again.

"Much like your father, I believe you would eat dirt if I put syrup on top of it," she teased him.

Parker laughed at that but didn't contradict her. Instead, he made quick work of the pancakes, settling back in his chair as he wiped his mouth. "Bones, your pancakes make it worth getting out of bed on Saturday mornings."

Brennan laughed as she got up to clear the table. "I can see that you have inherited your father's charm as well."

Just then the door opened and Booth walked in carrying the twins upside down over his shoulders. "Look what I found in the driveway, Bones."

Brennan placed the dishes in the sink and then walked over to inspect his charges. She tickled them both, intentionally calling them by each other's name. "I believe it's a Shelby and a Travis."

"I'm Shelby, he's Travis," the younger of the two pointed out from her position upside down. "You know that, Dr. B."

"You're right," Brennan replied as she scooped Shelby from Booth's grip. "I must've been confused looking at you upside down."

Travis started squirming in Booth's arms, reaching his arms towards Parker. Parker reached up to take his younger brother and settled him on his lap before Shelby demanded that she also be placed in his lap. Once they were settled, the two smiled up at Parker with matching smiles and said, "Happy birthday, Pawker."

"Thanks, guys," he replied. "So how was school yesterday?"

The two of them began an animated story as Brennan and Booth shared a smile. Seeing that Rebecca and Brent had finally made it to the door, they moved to help them with their load of presents.

Seeing the brightly wrapped packaged drew Travis' attention and his eyes grew wide. "Let's open presents," he squealed as he squirmed off of Parker's lap.

Parker turned in his chair as Shelby quickly climbed down to follow her brother across the room. When he saw all of the packaged, his own eyes also grew wide. "Mom?"

"Your grandparents sent everything to our place," she told him as they placed the packages on the coffee table. "And not wanting a repeat of last year, we added a couple for Travis and Shelby."

Parker nodded as he stood up and went over to greet his mother. The twins had thrown a fit last year when he'd opened his presents and it had taken quite a while to get them calmed down. He'd bought them small gifts himself this year to avoid a repeat of the uncomfortable situation.

"Happy birthday, Son," Rebecca said as Parker hugged her and leaned down for her to kiss him.

"Thanks, mom," he replied.

"There's more outside," Brent offered as he reached out to shake Parker's hand. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help?"

"Sure," Parker replied as he sidestepped the twins and made his way to the door.

Rebecca picked up Travis and Brennan scooped up Shelby as they all followed Parker outside.

He pulled up when he saw the new truck sitting in the driveway with a large bow on top of it.

"Mom? Dad?" he asked, his eyes wide as he turned to face them.

Booth held out the keys. "This is from your mom, Brent, Bones and me, Parker. Happy birthday."

Parker reached for the keys with an excited yelp which brought Chester running outside. "This is so cool," Parker said as he opened the door and slid behind the wheel.

"You want to take it for a spin?" Booth asked as he walked around to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Do I have time?" Parker asked.

"As long as you're back within twenty minutes," Booth assured him. "Then we'll open the rest of your gifts and have our family time."

Parker flashed him a smile. "Do you want to ride along?"

"I'd love to," Booth replied. "But how about for this first one, it just be you and Chester?"

The dog barked as he heard his name and Parker smiled again. He gave a short whistle and the dog came running. "Come on, boy. Let's go for a ride."

Booth pulled the bow off the top of the truck as the dog jumped into the passenger seat and sat down. "Be careful," Booth advised before he closed the door.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Parker said as he fastened his seatbelt and adjusted the mirrors. As he started the truck, his smiled once again blossomed on his face and was still evident as he backed out of the driveway and started down the street.

"This was a good idea, Booth," Brent offered as he took Shelby from Brennan and they headed back towards the house.

"This was all Bones' idea," Booth informed him as he dropped his arm around Brennan's shoulders. "But I agree that it was a good one."

"Well, we appreciate you guys letting us be a part of it," Rebecca stated.

"I want a car for my birthday," Travis said as he squirmed down from Rebecca's arms.

"Me, too," Shelby agreed.

"We'll talk about it when you're older," Rebecca told them as they stepped into the house.

Brennan chuckled at their identical whines of "But mom!" followed by Brent's "Don't backtalk your mother."

"I'm glad Parker is past that stage," Booth whispered as he tightened his hold around her shoulders to bring her to a stop before they made it into the house.

"Me, too," she agreed as she turned to face him. Seeing the serious look in his eyes, she added, "What is it?"

He reached a hand up to her face and gently traced it down her cheek. "I just wanted to tell you again how much I love you and how much it means to me when you think of these wonderful things to do for our son."

She gave him a small grin as she chose to lighten the mood a bit. "You do realize that it's because he inherited your charm smile and I'm completely unable to resist it, don't you?"

He laughed and then pulled her into a hug. "Thank God he's never figured that out."

"I'm not so sure about that," Brennan replied as she leaned back to look at him. "But since he hasn't pushed it yet on anything other than curfew on school nights, I think we're safe for now."

"I hope he finds a woman as wonderful as you are, Bones," he said softly.

"I love you, too, Booth," she said softly.

Booth leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips before they shared another smile and then made their way into the house.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. Should I stick to Booth and Brennan or do you guys enjoy the occasional view of their "family"?_


	20. Husband And Wife

_Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a review. I love reading them._

_This story is set shortly after "The Proposal."_

* * *

Brennan let out a soft sigh of contentment as she stretched lazily beneath the covers. The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains of the hotel suite, casting a soft glow across the room. She rolled to her side and allowed her gaze to rest on Booth. He was still sleeping peacefully, his body only partly hidden from her gaze by the covers.

Unable to resist his smooth skin, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his chest, just above his left nipple. Feeling his heart beating strong beneath her lips, she smiled against his skin before trailing her lips across his body.

She felt him stir beneath her as she gently nipped his collar bone and she lifted her eyes to find him watching her with a smile on his face. "Good morning, husband," she said as she leaned up to press her lips against his.

He returned her kiss eagerly, his hands moving down her body and encouraging her to move closer to him. When they finally broke apart, his eyes were twinkling. "Good morning, wife."

"It feels a little weird saying that, doesn't it?" she asked as her hand slid down his chest.

"A little bit," he agreed. "But it definitely feels right."

She settled herself on his chest and crossed her arms beneath her, holding her left hand out to inspect the new ring on her finger. "Before I met you, I never believed in marriage," she confessed. Bringing her gaze back to his, she added, "But then I fell in love with you and I had to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew as fact in the area of relationships."

Booth smiled as he lifted both of his hands to cup her face. "It seems to me that it's only fair since I've had to do the same thing since the day you walked into my life."

"You hated me," she said as she took his left hand in hers and twisted his wedding band around his finger.

"I never hated you," he replied. "I was annoyed by you at first, but even under all the annoyance, I was intrigued by you. There was just something about you that drew me to you…something that I couldn't ignore even when I tried."

"I'm glad you eventually stopped trying to ignore it," she said as she placed a kiss in the palm of his hand.

"Me, too," he agreed.

Their eyes locked for a long moment before she smiled at him and leaned in for another kiss. "Do you know how sexy that ring on your finger is?" she asked as she trailed her lips across his jaw.

His eyebrows shot up, surprised that she had given voice to the same thought he'd been having. "Sexy enough that you want to spend the day ravishing me?" he replied as his hands made their way to her waist.

"Exactly," she agreed as she pulled back to look at him. "How did you know?"

"I was thinking the same thing while you were admiring your own rings," he replied.

She laughed then, her lips once again finding his even as his hands shifted her above him until she was straddling his hips. She traced his lips with her tongue before sucking his lower lip into her mouth. As she released him and slid her tongue into his mouth, he shifted his hips to slide into her welcoming depths.

They made love slowly, allowing the tension to build as they kissed and stroked each other to new heights. When they finally reached completion, they lay intertwined, hands still stroking and lips still caressing each other.

"You know something, Booth?" she asked as she traced her hand across his chest, feeling his heart rate slowly return to normal.

"What's that, Bones?" he replied, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"When we make love, I truly believe it's possible for two people to become one," she told him.

He tilted her chin to bring her eyes level with his before he replied, "When we make love, Bones, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was right that day."

"You weren't sure at the time?" she asked.

"Not completely," he confessed. "But I was fairly certain that if it was ever going to happen for me, it would only happen with you."

She leaned in and kissed him again, her tongue teasing his lips until he opened them to her. After a breath-stealing kiss, she pulled back with a bright smile. "I love you, husband."

He returned her smile even as he rolled to pin her underneath him. "And I love you…wife."

* * *

_Please drop me a note if you feel so inclined. I try to always reply to them individually._


	21. The Misplaced Mistletoe

_Since the writers haven't actually fixed Angela and Hodgins relationship yet, I thought I'd let Brennan give it a shot. It's kind of necessary for them to be together in my timeline. :-)_

* * *

Booth walked into Brennan's office with a smile on his face. "Hello, beautiful."

Brennan turned around and greeted him with a smile of her own. "Hello yourself."

He watched as she attached a sprig of mistletoe to the end of a metal pole and he had a sudden case of déjà vu. "What's with the mistletoe, Bones?"

Her eyes sparkled as she met his gaze, memories of their first kiss flooding her mind. "It's not for us," she offered as she lifted the mistletoe into place.

"I figured as much since you don't need mistletoe to kiss me," he replied. "So who is it for?"

"Angela," she replied as she returned the pole to the corner of her office and then went to sit at her desk.

"I'm not sure I'm following," he said as he sat down on the corner of her desk. "If it's for Angela, why is it in your office?"

"We're having our little Christmas get together here tonight. Remember?"

"Right," he said. "At six o'clock. And then you and I are going back to your place to share a little yuletide cheer of our own. I remember."

"Well, since both Angela and Jack will be here tonight, I figured the mistletoe would be a good idea."

His eyebrows rose as he finally realized she was trying to get their friends back together. "Bones, do you really think that's such a good idea?" he asked. "I thought they had both agreed to move on."

"They're just both too stubborn to realize what they're giving up," she replied. "I'm just trying to give them a nudge in the right direction."

"I don't think they're going to appreciate it," he said.

"Why not? I mean, it's obvious that they still have feelings for each other. They should be able to deal with this break-up and get back together."

"Now there's an argument that has never been used before," he said as he reached for her hand. "Bones, look, I know you mean well and I'm sure your friends would appreciate knowing that you want them both to be happy. But trying to push things between them won't help them."

She looked thoughtful for a minute before she sighed. "I guess I'm trying to do the same thing to her that was done to us, aren't I?"

He nodded and said, "And how much did you like being on the other end?"

"Not very much," she said, glancing up at the mistletoe. "It made being around you very uncomfortable for a while." She paused for a brief moment and then added, "You're right. It's a bad idea. Forget I even mentioned it."

He tugged on her hand and pulled her to her feet, leading her over to stand between his knees. "Consider it forgotten" he offered. "But I sure don't think we should let the mistletoe go to waste."

"We're not under the mistletoe," she pointed out as his hands moved to her waist and pulled her closer.

"Minor technicality," he stated before he closed the distance between them and covered her lips with his. They lost themselves in the kiss, all thoughts of mistletoe disappearing under the onslaught of sensation brought about by the joining of their lips.

The ringing of the phone finally jolted them back to reality and they jerked apart guiltily, Brennan reaching for her phone and Booth picking up the folder he'd brought over to get signed. As soon as Brennan finished her call, they settled back into their work personas, neither one giving another thought to the lone sprig of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

They had all gathered in Brennan's office for drinks and their annual gift exchange. It was the first year without Zack, but it was also the first year that Booth had actually joined their little celebration. As they all began to bid their farewells, Cam's voice brought things to a standstill.

"Dr. Brennan, I never took you as the mistletoe type."

Brennan's eyes grew wide as she glanced up and saw that Angela was currently standing directly under the forgotten sprig, with Hodgins only a step behind her. "I completely forgot to take that down earlier," she replied.

"I think I may have distracted her," Booth offered as an apology.

Angela saw the fear on their faces and couldn't help but smile. She had never taken Bren for a matchmaker before, but then again, she'd never been as crazy in love as she was with Booth. Turning to Hodgins, Angela lifted a brow in question. "You know traditions, Jack."

He smiled to hide his nervousness, but refused to let the opportunity slip away. "I've always been a fan of traditions," he replied as he took a step closer to her.

Their eyes locked briefly and then they moved together as one, their lips meeting gently in a barely-there kiss. They both pulled away slightly for the briefest of seconds before moving together again, their lips meeting forcefully this time as their hands reached for each other, pulling the other closer as they re-learned the taste and feel of the other.

Neither of them noticed the looks that were exchanged between the others, nor did they notice when everyone quietly bid their farewells and left them there sharing a magical kiss under the mistletoe. It was quite some time later when they pulled apart, tears shining in both of their eyes.

"I've missed you so much," Hodgins said as he reached up to caress her face.

"I've missed you, too," Angela replied.

"I know I don't deserve it, but I'd like another chance," he whispered.

"I'd like one, too," she agreed.

"Do you want to go somewhere and talk?" he asked.

They both looked around them and laughed when they realized they were alone in the lab. "We can stay here if you want," she offered.

"As good a place as any, I suppose," he replied.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Do you think they can work things out?" Brennan asked from where she was snuggled into Booth's side. Her head was resting comfortably on his shoulder as her hand drew idle patterns on his bare chest.

"If they want it bad enough," he replied as he let a strand of her hair slide through his fingers.

"I hope they do," she said. "I've known Angela for a long time and I've never seen her as happy as she was with Jack."

"I think you just want everyone to be as happy as we are," he replied.

"Maybe," she admitted as she lifted her head to look at him. "I know I've never been this content with my own life before. It's a good feeling."

He lifted his head and kissed her, his hand going to the back of her head and holding her to him. Just as she rolled herself on top of him, her cell phone buzzed from the nightstand.

They both groaned as they broke apart, and she reached for her phone as he peppered kisses across her shoulder.

"It's a text from Angela," she said as she opened the message. "She says thanks for the mistletoe and that they'll call us tomorrow."

"Sounds like maybe they did want it bad enough," he commented as she returned her phone to the nightstand.

She smiled as she shifted her body back over his. "Speaking of wanting things, where were we?"

"Right about here, I think," he replied as he once again captured her lips with his, pulling her back into his embrace and hoping that Angela and Jack had in fact worked things out.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to hear from you._


	22. The Test

_A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review this story. I try to respond to each one individually, but if I missed one, please don't think your comments weren't appreciated. And now on to the story…_

* * *

She was late.

She was _never_ late.

Booth was in Denver on assignment and wouldn't be back until tomorrow night.

And she was late.

Brennan sighed as she shut down her computer and headed to the bedroom. She was driving herself crazy with worry. Tomorrow morning, she would just stop and pick up a test on the way to the lab. If she didn't start before she got home tomorrow evening, she would take the test and know for sure.

She sighed again as she got dressed for bed. Why did Booth have to be gone this week? Of all the things she'd had to face in her life, this was quite possibly the scariest. It would be easier if Booth was here with her. He would know what to say to make this better.

She got herself ready for bed, opting for one of Booth's t-shirts to sleep in instead of her nightgown, just so she could feel closer to him tonight. She missed curling up next to him and letting the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lull her to sleep. She always seemed to make it to the lab earlier during the weeks he was out of town on assignment because she never slept very well when he wasn't in the bed with her.

She had just turned down the covers on the bed when her cell phone rang. Seeing Booth's number on the caller i.d. brought a smile to her face as she picked up the phone.

"Hello there, lover," she greeted him.

His own smile was evident in the sound of his voice. "Hello yourself, beautiful. How are you tonight?"

"Other than missing you and feeling very lonely in this big bed by myself, I'm good," she replied as she settled into bed. "How was your day?"

"The usual," he replied. "I chased some bad guys, filled out paperwork, thought about you. A pretty typical day."

"Are you still going to be home tomorrow night?" she asked.

"Yeah. Morton is due back tomorrow so I'll spend the morning getting him up to speed and then catch an afternoon flight home. My plane should be in around six."

"I would offer to pick you up but since you insisted on leaving the truck in long-term parking, I don't suppose it's necessary."

"I didn't want to run the risk of having to catch a late flight out of here and getting in there at two a.m.," he offered in defense. "I know how cranky you can be when you don't get enough sleep."

"I'm not the one who gets cranky," she reminded him.

His laughter across the line brought unexpected tears to her eyes and she wiped them away as she said, "I miss you, Booth."

"I miss you, too," he replied. After a brief pause, he added, "Is there something going on that I need to know about? You seem a little distracted."

Brennan thought about telling him her suspicions, but she didn't want to do it over the phone. It was bad enough that she felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster, she didn't want to do the same thing to him. "Just not sleeping well without my favorite pillow."

"I know what you mean," he agreed. "I keep waking up and reaching for you only to remember that you're not here and then struggling to get back to sleep."

"I thought the separations were supposed to get easier now that we're married," she said.

"I don't think being separated from you will ever be easy," he told her. "It's like being separated from a part of myself."

"You say the sweetest things sometimes," she said with a shaky laugh.

"It's your fault," he stated.

"I know. And I love you anyway."

"I love you, too."

They talked for several more minutes about inconsequential things before they finally said their good nights. As she returned her phone to the night stand and turned off the light, she wondered again if she should have told him about her suspicions. It's not like they had never talked about having kids. In fact, just a couple of months earlier, they had talked for quite a while about the subject.

They'd had a case involving the murder of a small child and once they had solved it, she had finally admitted to him that her real concern about having a child of her own had nothing to do with being afraid of her parenting skills and everything to do with knowing how horrible a place the world could be for a child. They had agreed that the reality of the danger of their jobs was something they would have to take into consideration before they seriously explored the possibility of expanding their family.

Brennan rolled to her side as she remembered Booth's final words on the subject that day. "Bones, honey, I love you more than life itself. If we decide one day to have a baby together, that would be okay with me. If we don't, I'm just as okay with that. Having a baby or not having a baby isn't going to change the fact that I'm crazy about you."

She believed him when he told her that having Parker as a son and knowing that she loved Parker as much as if he were her own child was enough for him. However, there were times when she would see him playing with little Jason when she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to watch him being a father to _their _child.

Brennan closed her eyes as her hand moved to rest over her belly. As she drifted to sleep, she wondered if there was a new life growing inside of her…a dark haired little boy with his father's eyes and smile or maybe a dark haired little girl with her own eyes who would have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Brennan read the directions on the box for the second time, wanting to make sure that she followed them exactly. According to the insert, the home test could give her results on the first day she missed her period. Since she was now three days late, she figured it increased her chances of getting an accurate result.

She took the test and then paced the bathroom floor for the required five minutes to see the results. When she finally picked up the stick to look at it, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Seeing the results in the window of the stick immediately brought tears to her eyes and she carried the small stick with her into the bedroom where she laid down on the bed and curled into a ball. She clutched the stick tightly in her hand, trying to will the results to be different even as tears streamed unchecked down her face and she wondered at her own emotional reaction.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Booth pulled into the garage, the sight of Brennan's car there bringing a smile to his face. "Seeley, my boy, you have got it bad," he said to himself. He couldn't help it. It had been a long week in Denver and he was glad to be home. He had a sneaky suspicion that something was going on with Bones, but she hadn't wanted to talk about it over the phone so he hadn't pushed. Now that he was home, he planned to remedy that as soon as possible.

Making his way into the house, he called out to her. "Bones, I'm home."

When she didn't respond, he immediately got concerned. Leaving his bags in the living room, he headed down the hall to their bedroom. When he reached the door, he could hear her quiet sobs and he was instantly on alert. Drawing his gun, he slowly pushed open the door. A quick survey of the room assured him that she wasn't in physical danger so he re-holstered his gun and made his way to the bed.

His weight settling on the bed brought her gaze up to his and brought on a fresh round of tears as he drew her up into his arms. "Shh, Bones, baby, don't cry. Tell me what's wrong, sweetie."

She merely buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist as she continued to cry.

He held her for several minutes, his soft words of love and hands soothing up and down her back finally calming her. He continued to stroke his hands up and down her back as she quieted down, finally venturing to ask her once again what was wrong.

"I'm late, Booth," she mumbled into his chest.

It took a minute for him to figure out what she was referring to, but when he did, he realized why she was so upset. She was never late. "It's okay, sweetie. We can get one of those home tests and find out for sure. I'll even go now if you want me to."

"I already did," she replied.

He drew in a deep breath, his mind piecing things together. He forced himself to remain calm as he continued to stroke her back softly. "Have you taken it?"

She nodded against his chest then pulled her hand from around his waist and held out the small stick for him to see. He shifted her in his arms so he could take the stick from her and held his breath as he lifted it to look at it. His breath left him in a whoosh as he looked at it. "It's negative, Bones," he said softly.

"I know."

He shook his head to clear it. From her reaction, he had expected a positive test, not a negative one. He dropped the stick to the bed and placed his hand under her chin. Forcing her to meet his gaze, he gave voice to his thoughts. "I'm confused, Bones. "

"So am I," she admitted. "I should be relieved that we're not pregnant. We talked about this and we both agreed that this definitely isn't the right time for us to think about having a baby. I was just so certain that it was going to be positive that I was disappointed when it wasn't."

He smiled at that. "You never knew you could miss something so bad that you never even really had, huh?"

"Exactly," she agreed.

He hugged her to his chest again and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Believe it or not, I completely understand."

"I kept thinking about how amazing it would be to see you holding our child and looking up at me with that look of absolute adoration in your eyes and I guess I found myself hoping that it was true," she confessed. "And then when the test was negative, I felt like that had been ripped away from me and I just started crying."

He leaned back to meet her gaze again and smiled at her. "A look of absolute adoration?"

She shrugged slightly. "It's hard to explain. There are times when you look at me when I feel like I'm the only woman on the planet."

"Probably because in my book, you are," he replied. He reached a hand up to brush the hair out of her eyes before he grew serious again. "Bones, we haven't lost anything. If we decide we want to have a baby, we will. Just look at it like this, at least now you know that it won't freak you out if you take one of these tests and it comes back positive."

"I don't think it's possible to freak out any worse than I did this afternoon," she admitted.

"I think it's kind of cute," he teased her with a smile.

"You're just trying to make me feel better," she replied.

"You couldn't possibly feel any better to me," he said. "At least not without taking off some of those clothes."

"You're incorrigible," she told him even as she laughed.

"Completely," he agreed. "But you love me anyway."

"I do."

"And I love you," he assured her.

She leaned up and brushed her lips against his. "Not exactly the homecoming I had planned for you."

"You had something better in mind than us being in the bed together within the first sixty seconds I was in the door?" he teased.

"Completely incorrigible," she said even as she shifted her weight to stretch out atop him.

"And completely yours," he replied before their lips met again in a passionate kiss, no further words needed between them.

* * *

_Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Reviews are always appreciated._


	23. The Couch

_Way too much drama in my life today. Fortunately for anyone reading this, I like to write to calm myself down. Just a reminder that we're all human and we all make mistakes, even those loveable fictional characters._

* * *

Booth sighed as he carried a pillow and blanket down the hall towards the couch. As much as he loved their couch, he hated sleeping on it. Unless, of course, he was sleeping on it because that's as far as he and his incredible girlfriend had made it before giving in to their passion for each other. In that case, sleeping on the couch was perfectly acceptable. Sleeping on the couch because he was fighting with said incredible girlfriend was not only unacceptable, it was ridiculous.

He dropped the pillow onto the couch and shook out the blanket with another frustrated sigh. He should be in their bedroom with her, not out on the couch. There was absolutely nothing in the world important enough to let it come between them. Unfortunately, it had taken him way too long to remember that today.

He checked the locks on the door and turned off the rest of the light before making his way back to the couch. He quickly stripped down to his boxers and settled himself on the couch, certain that he was in for a long, restless night.

Booth closed his eyes and replayed their earlier disagreement that had led to their current sleeping arrangements. The only conclusion he came to was that he was a certifiable idiot. When they'd finally gotten home, Bones was the one who had made the first move towards reconciliation. He'd brushed off her attempts with a gruff response about going for a run. When he'd returned, she'd had dinner ready, but he'd stubbornly insisted that she go ahead while he'd showered.

When he'd settled in the recliner and turned on the television, she'd carried her laptop into the living room and sat down on the couch to work on her book, occasionally trying to start a conversation by asking questions about the game he was watching. After an hour of his non-committal responses, she'd finally given up on him and shut down her computer.

"I'm going to bed," she'd informed him.

His only response had been a nod of his head, which had prompted her to ask, "Are you going to join me or are you going to pout out here all night?"

When he'd merely shrugged, she'd gotten up from the couch with a resigned sigh. He'd been surprised when she'd stopped behind the recliner and leaned down to brush her lips across his forehead. "Good night, Booth. I love you," she had whispered softly before retreating to their bedroom.

The click of the door behind her had sounded like a gunshot in his ears and had finally broken through the wall he'd built around his emotions. He should've followed her right then and apologized, but his cell phone had buzzed and he'd chosen instead to answer it, recognizing the number as one of his newest agents. Forty-five minutes later, he'd finally talked the kid through the final paperwork on his case and was able to get off the phone. By then, the bedroom light was out and he was certain that Bones was asleep.

Not wanting to wake her to apologize for being such a total idiot, he'd opted to take the couch for the night, figuring the lack of sleep would serve as good punishment for allowing himself to forget about leaving work at the door and not allowing professional differences of opinion to interfere in their personal lives.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Booth was instantly awake; his senses on high alert as he tried to ascertain what had disturbed him. He lay perfectly still, forcing his breathing to remain calm as he listened for anything out of the ordinary. When he heard nothing unusual, he opened his eyes and glanced around the room. Not seeing anything out of place, he started to shift his weight when he realized that something was holding his wrist stationary. Rolling completely to his side, he saw Bones stretched out on the floor beside the couch, his hand held securely in both of hers.

"Bones?"

"I'm sorry," she said, refusing to meet his gaze. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"What are you doing down there?" he asked.

"I missed you," she replied softly.

"But why are you on the floor?" he asked.

"Because I know that you're mad at me," she replied quickly. "But I didn't think it would wake you if I just held your hand while I slept. I'm sorry."

Booth felt his heart break at her words and he mentally scolded himself again for his own stupidity. "I'm not mad at you, Bones," he said as he pushed himself to a sitting position. He then reached down and helped her from the floor, settling her in his lap as his arms went around her waist and hers found their way around his neck. "I'm sorry I was being such an asshole, Bones. I never should have let you go to bed thinking I was still mad at you."

"Why didn't you come to bed?" she asked.

"Reynolds called just as I was headed that way, and by the time I got down with him, the light was off. I didn't think I deserved to sleep next to you without apologizing first, but I didn't want to wake you after I'd been such a complete jerk all evening so I figured the couch would serve as a good punishment for me."

"You _were_ being quite a jerk tonight," she agreed with just a hint of a smile.

He lifted a hand to brush the hair off of her face and offered a smile. "But I'm still your jerk, right?"

"Always."

"I love you, Bones."

"I love you, too." She leaned forward then and brushed her lips across his before getting to her feet. "Let's go to bed, Booth."

He stood up quickly and lifted her into his arms. Instead of the expected protest, she merely rested her head on his shoulder and draped her arms around his neck.

He felt her lips brush against his bare shoulder and he couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through him. "I guess I still need to work on that whole leaving work stuff at the door, don't I?" he asked.

"We're both still learning," she agreed as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. "At least this time we managed to make up before daybreak."

"Maybe next time it'll be before dinner," he offered with a smile.

She returned his smile as they reached the bedroom door. "I hear that make-up sex on the kitchen table can be pretty fantastic."

He laughed as he carried her inside and dropped her on the bed. "You have got to stop talking to Angela about our sex life."

"I make no promises," she said as she pulled him down on top of her. "So you'd better make sure it's worth talking about."

His hands found her sides and he began tickling her mercilessly. He didn't stop until they were both breathless and she was begging for mercy. Then his hands stilled and his eyes locked with hers. "I love you."

"I know, Booth. And I love you."

His lips found hers then and although it wasn't the kitchen table, the make-up sex was still pretty fantastic.

* * *

_A huge thank you to everyone who has left a review for this story. And a reminder that I would love to hear from you. Reviews make me smile, and I could use a few of those today._


	24. Moving In

_This might appear to actually have a plot at the beginning, but that's because it was necessary for how I wanted to do this. And this one would take place directly before chapter 11 of the Snapshots series if you're interested._

* * *

Booth made his way into the lab and immediately spotted Brennan up on the platform with her new intern. He swiped his card and ascended the steps in silence, not wanting to disturb her while she was in the middle of something.

When she didn't immediately acknowledge him, he moved to the side of the platform and waited. He watched in silence as she completed her perusal of the skeleton laid out on the examination table, occasionally glancing at the folder sitting to the side. When she was satisfied, she nodded her head in approval. "Nice work, Mr. Bruins."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan," the young man replied as he visibly relaxed.

"Go ahead and mark the bones as you've indicated in our reports and turn it all in to Dr. Saroyan," she said as she removed her gloves. "I'll sign off on it once she's finished with the rest of her tests."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

She then turned her attention to Booth and gave him a bright smile. "You're early. It's not even five yet."

Booth cringed at the reminder of yet another broken date this week. Work had been so busy that they'd hardly had any time to spend with each other. In an effort to rectify that, they had made plans for an early dinner and a movie to kick off the weekend. Unfortunately, he'd been handed a case that would not only interfere with their evening, but would also interrupt their weekend."

Offering her a weak smile in return, he replied, "I wish I was here for strictly social reasons."

"We have a case?" she asked as she stopped in front of him.

He nodded in affirmation. "A construction site in North Carolina."

She raised her eyebrows at that. "How did you end up with it?"

He handed her the case file and motioned towards her office. "The guy who owns the land donated it to the local church for a new building. He is apparently good friends with someone who has contacts pretty high up in the FBI, and well, you know how that goes."

She briefly looked at the pictures in the file as they walked. "The bones were uncovered when they started excavating?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "And according to the report, they've secured the scene pending our arrival."

She closed the file when they reached her office. "So I guess dinner and a movie are out?"

"How about take out in the car on the way home to pack a bag?" he offered instead.

"Guess it will have to do," she replied with a sigh. "Do you want to brief Cam while I gather the things I'll need to take with me?"

"Sure," he agreed.

When he hesitated, she smiled at him. "It's okay, Booth."

"I know. I was just really looking forward to spending a quiet evening alone with you."

She moved over to stand in front of him and then leaned up for a kiss. "We can leave the radio off on the drive and still have a quiet evening alone together."

He laughed then and pulled her into a hug. "Not even close to the same thing, Bones."

"I know," she replied as she returned the hug. "But at least we'll be together this time."

He tilted her chin up for another kiss and then stepped away from her with a sigh. "Okay, I'll go talk to Cam and then meet you back here to get your gear loaded."

"I'll be ready in ten minutes," she told him as she pulled off her lab coat.

"I'll be back."

Brennan quickly gathered her travel kit and then headed back out to the lab for some other things she was certain she would need. This definitely wasn't their ideal weekend, but she was serious when she'd told him that at least they'd be together this time. Solo assignments seemed to last much longer and be much more taxing on their relationship. Not to mention the fact that she hated sleeping alone anymore. At least this assured her that she would get to spend the night in his arms, even if it was in some cheap hotel room and not one of their bedrooms.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Booth reached over and gave her knee a gentle squeeze as he reached the turnoff for their hotel. "Wake up, Bones."

Brennan opened her eyes and stretched as she took in the scenery. "What time is it?"

"Almost two," he replied, fighting back a yawn. Their six hour drive had turned into eight by the time they'd managed to get through D.C. traffic on a Friday night.

"You should've woken me, Booth," she stated. "I could've driven for a while and let you sleep."

"I thought about it, but you're way too cute when you're sleeping."

She laughed as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. "Sexy and funny. How did I ever get so lucky?"

"You forgot to add charming and dangerous to the list," he told her as he turned off the ignition and opened his door.

She met him at the front of the SUV, still laughing as she watched him stretch his legs. "Don't forget humble and unassuming," she teased.

They looked around the parking lot, surprised by the number of cars. "Seems pretty busy for a small town," he commented as they headed inside.

"Probably the only hotel within a hundred miles," she replied.

He nodded his agreement and held the door for her as they made their way inside to confirm their room reservations.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Booth sat his suitcase on the bureau and moved over to unlock the connecting door. He opened it as Brennan was doing the same from her side. "This is a waste of money," she said as she walked into his room. "Cullen knows that we've been dating for over a year now. Why does he still insist that we each have our own room while we're away on assignment?"

"It's that whole appearance thing, Bones," he told her as he returned to his suitcase and began to unpack it.

She settled on the bed and watched him as he carefully places his clothes in drawers and hung his suit pants and dress shirts in the closet. She loved that about him…his neatness. It was a nice change from most of the men she'd dated before.

"Is it okay if we wait until daybreak to check in with the local authorities and visit the crime scene?" she asked.

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Booth. I'm just tired. And I know you are, too. We should get a few hours of sleep before we dive into this."

"Sounds good," he agreed.

She got off the bed and headed back to her room. "I'm going to get ready for bed. Yours or mine?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied as he picked up his shaving kit and headed to the bathroom.

"Yours then," she decided.

He smiled as he reached the bathroom to ready himself for bed. The last assignment it had been her room. Of course, on the last assignment, she'd had a much nicer room than him.

He had stripped down to his boxers and placed his dirty clothes in a pile before she returned to the room. Turning to face her, he smiled when he recognized his favorite Led Zeppelin t-shirt. "I was wondering where that shirt had disappeared to."

"You left it at my place," she replied. "I figured it was fair game."

"And if I want it back?" he asked.

"You'll have to take it from me," she teased.

He started across the room towards her only to find himself once again fighting back a yawn. She laughed and pulled down the covers on the bed. "I think I'm safe tonight. Come on, Booth, to bed with you."

"I love it when you talk dirty," he replied as he crawled into bed.

She set the alarm on the phone and made sure both hers and his were plugged into the chargers before she joined him. She turned off the light and settled next to him, not at all surprised when his arms wrapped around her and pulled her onto his chest. "That's better," he said as his hands trailed up under the t-shirt to settle on her back, just above her panties.

She lifted her head for a kiss and then crossed her arms over his chest and rested her chin on them as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. "Can we revisit the topic about wasting money on two rooms?" she asked softly.

"Cullen isn't going to change his mind on it, Bones."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the two of us," she replied.

"Could you be more specific?" he asked as he looked down at her, just barely able to make out her features in the soft glow of the moonlight through the blinds.

"We've been together for over a year now, and we spend practically every night together. It seems to me like we're wasting money paying rent on two places when one would be more than adequate," she stated.

His smile was evident in his voice even if she couldn't quite make it out. "Are you asking me to move in, Bones?"

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of me moving into your place," she replied. "It's bigger and Parker would still have his own room."

"It sounds like you've given this a lot of thought," he said.

"I have," she agreed. "It makes sense. I mean, unless you don't want to. I completely understand if you'd rather not, or if it's too soon. I don't mean to be presumptuous or anything. I just thought…"

He silenced her with a kiss, rolling over until she was pinned beneath him. "Guess we'd better wrap this case up quickly then so we can get busy on moving things."

She smiled up at him as her hands trailed down his back. "That was a little easier than I thought it was going to be."

He pulled back a little to see her more clearly. "Were you afraid I would say no?"

"More like I was concerned that you might be opposed to living together if we didn't get married first," she admitted.

"Are you planning on leaving me?" he asked softly.

"No," she replied solemnly. "I love you, Booth."

"Good enough for me," he stated. "I'll take you any way I can get you. And if we weren't both so tired right now, I would prove that to you."

She laughed then and leaned up for a long kiss. When she finally pulled back, she gave him a gentle nudge to roll him to the side and then pulled his arms securely around her as she tucked her back against his chest. He leaned down and nuzzled her neck as he worked his hands back under her shirt to find her bare skin. Sliding one of his legs between hers, he gently nipped at her ear before he said, "You can even keep the shirt, Bones. It looks better on you than it does me anyway."

"Such a gentleman," she replied with a sigh.

"You can add that to the list as well," he teased. "And besides, I rather like peeling my clothes off of you when we make love."

She smiled in the darkness and felt him relax behind her. "Good night, Booth."

"Good night, Bones."

* * *

_A huge shout out to everyone who has written a review for this story. As always, I love to hear from you._


	25. Father's Day

_For those of you who are waiting for the next chapter of "Author In The Closet", I haven't forgotten about that story. I've just been suffering from a severe case of writer's block. So in an effort to actually get myself writing again, I thought I'd revisit this lovely little story. Thanks for indulging me._

* * *

"Lunch is ready," Brennan called as she carried the last dish to the table. She watched Booth and Parker emerge from the swimming pool as she poured iced tea from the pitcher into the glasses. It was a rare event that she ever had to call either one of them twice when it came time to eat and today was no exception.

They both quickly toweled themselves off and made their way over to the patio table where she had set out the food. Parker took his seat as Booth wrapped his arms around Brennan's waist. "I know you love me when you make me red meat for lunch," he told her as he planted a quick kiss on her neck.

"The red meat was Parker's idea," Brennan pointed out. "I had intended to make tilapia."

"She even made me go to the store to pick out the steaks, dad," Parker added.

Booth laughed as he released Brennan and pulled her chair out for her. "As she should have," he told Parker. "After all, it's Father's Day, not Husband's Day."

They all shared a laugh as they began to fill their plates. The three of them had gone to mass early that morning and then spent some quality family time together in the pool that Parker had talked them into buying when he was fourteen. Parker had helped Brennan get things ready to go on the grill, but then she had sent him back to the pool while she finished the lunch preparations.

They laughed and joked with each other as they enjoyed their meal, Brennan avoiding the steaks in favor of extra vegetables and Booth and Parker rolling their eyes at her when she commented on their carnivorous eating habits.

"So what are you doing with Brent later today?" Booth asked as he helped himself to a second helping of macaroni and cheese. It had become their tradition that Parker spent part of Father's Day with Booth and then part of it with Brent. Booth didn't really mind since Brent was a good guy and had been a good stepdad to his son. Besides, Rebecca insisted that Parker spend part of Mother's Day with Brennan, so it seemed only fair.

"I'm not really sure," Parker replied. "Mom said that Travis and Shelby were working on something but hadn't told her what yet. So who knows what a couple of five year olds have planned. For all I know, we could end up in the tree house having imaginary ice cream and cake."

"Make sure they give you the imaginary chocolate cake then," Brennan told him. "Travis told me that it's always better than the vanilla."

"I haven't found anything chocolate that Travis doesn't like," Parker replied.

"He's not the only one," Booth stated with a knowing grin at Brennan.

"You have your red meat, I have my chocolate," she replied. "I don't see a problem."

They all shared another laugh at that. "Thank you for another wonderful Father's Day, Parker," Booth said. "And Bones, thank you for cooking red meat _and _mac & cheese for me. It was delicious as always."

"You're welcome," Brennan replied.

"Yeah, you're welcome, dad," Parker added. "And thanks for being a great dad. I honestly feel like the luckiest kid alive sometimes. Not only do I have wonderful parents, but I also have wonderful step-parents. A lot of my friends aren't so lucky. Thank you for giving me that."

"Come here and give your ole dad a hug," Booth said as he got to his feet.

Parker chuckled as he got to his feet as well and stepped into his father's embrace. He hoped he never got so old or full of himself that he refused one of his dad's hugs. There were so few of his friends who even allowed their mothers to hug them anymore, much less their fathers. Apparently, it didn't go well with the tough guy image they tried to maintain. Parker knew better though. His dad was the strongest man he knew, but he'd never been afraid to offer a hug and a simple "I love you" to remind Parker how important he was to him.

Booth released Parker with an affectionate ruffling of his hair – a habit he had yet to decide was too boyish to continue, in spite of the fact that they now stood eye-to-eye. "You'd better get cleaned up so you can get to your mother's house on time."

"Do you want me to clear the table?" Parker asked as he looked over at Brennan.

"I'll take care of it," she replied. "You go ahead."

Parker stepped around to her side of the table and leaned down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for a wonderful meal, Bones."

"You're welcome," she replied.

As he straightened back up, he gave a short whistle that brought Chester running to his side. "Come on, boy, let's go get cleaned up and go see mom and Brent."

"He's growing into quite a remarkable young man," Brennan commented as she turned her attention to Booth.

"That he is," Booth agreed. "Thank you for your part in making that a reality."

"All I've done is love him," Brennan replied. "You're the man he's modeled his life after."

"Sometimes just knowing you're loved is enough," Booth replied with a wink. "Come on, my lovely wife, I'll help you clean up the kitchen while Parker's getting ready and then we can have our own private celebration."

"I like the sound of that," Brennan agreed.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"I got you something for Father's Day," Brennan said as she stroked her hand lazily down his chest. She lifted her head from his shoulder just enough to see his reaction.

"You didn't have to do that," he said as he shifted his weight just enough to look down at her. They were lying side by side on one of the pool chaise lounge chairs under the large umbrella that offered plenty of shade.

"I thought it was rather fitting this year," she replied softly.

He rolled to his side and propped himself up on an elbow to look at her. "Are you going to make me guess?"

"Not this time," she replied. "If I gave you enough hints to figure out what it was, there would be no point in opening the gift."

He nodded as he met her gaze. "Okay then, where is it?"

"Such an impatient man when it comes to gifts," she teased him.

He leaned closer to her and brushed his lips across hers. "Always have been and you know it. So either find a way to distract me again or hand over the gift."

She leaned into his kiss for the briefest of moments before rolling to her feet and walking towards the house. "I'll be right back."

He watched as she moved across the yard and into the house, appreciating the view of her gorgeous body in only her swimsuit. It was only a few seconds before she stepped back through the door carrying a gift wrapped package in her hand.

As she made her way back to the lounge chair, he sat up straight, making sure to leave plenty of room for her to join him.

She handed him the gift and then sat down on the side of the chair facing him. "Open the card first."

Booth did as she instructed, finding a humorous card inside with her familiar script at the bottom with the message, "May this be the first of many. All of my love, Temperance."

He set the card aside and tore into the wrapping paper, revealing a shoe box. "It's not heavy enough to really be shoes," he commented as he took the lid off to look inside.

His eyebrows shot up as he pulled out the tissue paper and saw the contents of the box. "Oh my god!"

"Happy Father's Day, Booth," Brennan said.

"Really?" Booth asked as he looked up at her.

"Really," she replied.

He reached into the box then and pulled out the tiniest pair of shoes he'd ever seen in his life. Underneath them was a framed picture and he pulled it out as well. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at the sonogram. "Our baby, Bones?"

"Picture number one," she replied. "Six weeks along. The doctor confirmed that everything looks good, but she's going to keep a close eye on me as the pregnancy progresses since I've reached that magical number fortieth birthday."

He placed both items back in the box and set it on the ground so he could pull her into his arms. "I love you so much, Bones."

"I love you, too," she replied.

"Are you okay with this?" he asked as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I am," she assured him. "Are you?"

"Of course I am," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Parker is getting ready to start his senior year of high school, so you know…"

"It's perfect, Bones."

She let out a sigh of relief and shifted her weight so she was once again leaning against his side. "So, boy or girl, Booth?"

"Either one," he replied. "As long as both baby and mommy are healthy, I'll be happy. How about you?"

"I think I'd like a little girl," Brennan replied. "You need a daughter in your life. Although, I wouldn't be disappointed with another Booth man in my life either."

"Thank you, Bones," Booth said as he leaned down to brush his lips against hers.

"You had just as much to do with this gift as I did," she reminded him. "I think maybe I should be the one thanking you. You've managed to give me everything I never thought I wanted. I am so blessed to have you in my life, Seeley Booth."

"As am I, Temperance Brennan."

"Happy Father's Day, Booth."

"The best one yet," he replied as he leaned in for a much longer kiss. He was going to be a daddy again. What better news could one learn on Father's Day?

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to drop me a line. I would love to hear from you and hopefully, I will have more bouts of inspiration in the near future._


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